Posted on 01/15/2013 1:08:48 AM PST by Cronos
“Deadly attacks on Shia communities across Pakistan are escalating,” said Brad Adams, the Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.
“The [Pakistani] government’s persistent failure to apprehend attackers or prosecute… suggests that it is indifferent to this carnage.”
The carnage against Shias has surged in recent years – at least 320 people have been killed in sectarian violence in Pakistan thus far this year alone, with one-third of the murders taking place in Balochistan province, where the Hazara ethnic group is concentrated.
On the first day of September in two different attacks, a total of eight Hazara were shot to death by gunmen in the city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. In the prior month, at least 26 Shia were murdered in the country, including a particularly horrific incident in the Northwest Frontier province in which gunmen forces bus passengers to provide identification, leading to the immediate execution of 22 Shias. The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for that particular atrocity.
...Overall, thousands of people have died in sectarian violence in Pakistan over the past two decades. However, Sunnis enjoy a distinct advantage given that they represent about 70 percent of the population.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
In the year 2012 alone, 1,450 Shiite Muslims have been targeted in Pakistan.
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