Pakistan is no longer a country for Shi’ite men

The Pakistani intelligence agencies investigating the current spate of execution-style sectarian killings in Balochistan have concluded that it is part of a systematic campaign launched by an al-Qaeda linked sectarian group. They aim to persecute half a million members of the Persian speaking Shi’ite Hazara community and want them to leave Pakistan.

In its latest attack on October 4, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) killed 14 more Shi’ite’s travelling in Quetta. The massacre was literally an action replay of the September 20 cold-blooded execution-style killing of 29 Shi’ite pilgrims of Hazara community in the Mastung area of Quetta who were on their way to Iran from Quetta. The LeJ, which has strong ties with the al Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, is a sworn enemy of the Shi’ite sect and has a declared agenda of ridding Pakistan of all Shi’ite. Sources in the intelligence establishment say the anti-Shi’ite killing spree in Quetta is being spearheaded by LeJ activist Usman Saifullah Kurd. Those investigating the ongoing killings of Shi’ite Hazaras say the campaign has intensified in the aftermath of the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden.

After Osama’s death, LeJ spokesman Ali Sher Haidri, threatened to kill government ministers, security forces and the Hazara Shi’ites. Threatening letters circulated in Quetta warned all Shi’ites to leave Balochistan by 2012 or face persecution.