Pakistani Shias Continue To Suffer Vicious Attacks In Muharram
Satish Kumar
Pakistan Is Rocked by a Spate of Attacks
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and PIR ZUBAIR SHAH
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A handful of deadly attacks ravaged parts of
Pakistan this weekend and highlighted the multiple security challenges
confronting the embattled Islamabad government, from violent vendettas
by Taliban militants to sectarian violence against minority Shiites.
The bloodiest attack happened Sunday in Muzaffarabad, the capital of
Pakistani-controlled Kashmir in the north of the country, where a
suicide bomber killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 80
during a Shiite religious procession. The attack could have been
worse, the local authorities said: the bomber had been trying to enter
a prayer hall but blew himself up when guards blocked him. Pakistani
troops were rushed in to restore order.
More than a dozen people were wounded in Karachi the day before by a
small bomb. Both attacks appeared directed at Shiites observing
Ashura, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of
the Prophet Muhammad, in A.D. 680.
The identities of the attackers were not clear, but the country’s
Shiites, one-fifth of the population, continue to be the targets of
Sunni extremists. Past Shiite holidays have been singled out by
sectarian militants, leading Pakistani security forces to deploy tens
of thousands to protect Ashura marchers this year.
The Kashmir attack followed the assassination on Sunday of a mid-level
political administrator named Sarfaraz Khan and his family in the
Kurram tribal area near the Afghan border. Taliban militants detonated
a bomb at Mr. Khan’s home, killing him, his wife and four of his
children, the local authorities said.
The attack appeared to be retribution for the Pakistani military’s
bombing and helicopter strafing of Taliban hide-outs in Kurram and the
neighboring tribal area, Orakzai, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban
leader Hakimullah Mehsud, whose fighters seized control of Orakzai
last year and instituted strict Islamic laws. One of his wives is also
from Orakzai.
Taliban fighters took positions in Kurram and Orakzai after fleeing a
Pakistani offensive in the South Waziristan tribal area this fall,
Pakistani intelligence and military officials say. Skirmishes are now
routine.
In a telephone interview, a Pakistani security official said that
Pakistani jets killed six Orakzai militants during a bombing run on
Sunday while Taliban guerrillas battled state-sponsored Lashkar tribal
militiamen in southern Orakzai. Nine Taliban militants and eight
militiamen have died so far in that battle, which was still happening
late Sunday, he said.
The South Waziristan offensive prompted Taliban commanders to
intensify attacks in large cities and in the country’s interior. The
military says it is throwing resources into killing militants who
attack population centers.
But Pakistani officials have refused American demands to drive out
militants in North Waziristan, including networks controlled by
Sirajuddin Haqqani, who are battling American troops across the border
in Afghanistan. Such action is seen as crucial to President Obama’s
recent order to send 30,000 additional American troops into
Afghanistan.
American forces are using drones and powerful missiles to attack those
militants. The death toll for the latest drone strike, which occurred
Saturday evening, has soared to 13, the Pakistani security official
and a Pakistani intelligence officer said in interviews on Sunday.
That attack, in Saidgai village in North Waziristan, killed seven
foreign militants and six local fighters, the Pakistani security
official said. Two missiles struck the compound of a man known as
Asmatullah, he said. The intelligence official confirmed the number of
dead at 13 but said he did not know their identities.