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Click map for full view. Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, the Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies. Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived by The Long War Journal based on the presence of Taliban shadow governments, levels of fighting, and reports from the region. Map created by Bill Raymond for The Long War Journal. |
A suicide bomber killed 32 Pakistanis and wounded more than 85 today in an attack on a funeral procession for a Shia elder who was murdered yesterday in Dera Ismail Khan.
“The funeral procession accompanying the body of Shia elder, Sher Zaman killed yesterday by unknown gunmen, was moving towards the graveyard when it reached near Sobara hotel a powerful explosion took place,” a Pakistani official told reporters.
The suicide attack sparked violent riots in the district in northwest Pakistan. Enraged protesters attacked police stations, looted shops, and fired weapons in the air. The Army has been called in to restore order and imposed a curfew. Soldiers have been issued orders to shoot on sight anyone violating the curfew.
Dera Ismail Khan has been the scene of several major attacks on minority Shia this past year.
The attacks are carried out by anti-Shia terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba. These groups have merged with al Qaeda in Pakistan, and are harbored by the Taliban in the tribal areas. Dera Ismail Khan borders South Waziristan, the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. These groups are known to base in South Waziristan.
The major attack occurred on Jan. 4 when two bombs were detonated outside of a college in the main town. Ten Pakistanis were killed and more than 25 were wounded.
A Nov. 21 attack nearly mirrored today’s strike. A car bomb was detonated during a funeral procession for a murdered Shia cleric. Ten were killed and scores were wounded. On Aug. 19, a suicide bomber killed 29 Shia mourners and wounded 35 by detonating in the emergency ward of a hospital.
A suicide bomber wounded three Pakistanis with a detonation at a Shia gathering on July 13. Four Pakistanis were killed and three wounded in a bombing at a Shia mosque on June 16.
The anti-Shia attacks in the region have expanded in neighboring Punjab province. On Feb. 5, more than 30 Shia Pakistani worshipers were killed and more than 50 wounded in a devastating suicide attack outside of a mosque in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan, which borders Dera Ismail Khan.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks in the Punjab districts of Dera Ghazi Khan and Mianwali over the past several weeks. The attacks have prompted the Punjab provincial government to consider closing down its borders with the two provinces.
Fear of the rising violence led the Punjab government to order the closure of two facilities used by truckers transporting supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“This is the policy of the Punjab government, that we have to minimize the risks of attacks, as these unguarded stopovers can be a big target for terrorists,” the Mianwali district police chief told Dawn.
2 Comments
The people will eventually unite against these terrorists that attempt to set the people at each others’ throats. Just as in Iraq the hatred and fear of Al Queda and the Quds murderers brought the diverse people of Iraq together against a common enemy.
Terrorists just insist on fouling their own nests.
AQAM is trying hard for the Samara strategy here, the one that threw our stride off for quite a while in Iraq. Pakistan needs to fight this attempt to inflame sectarian infighting harder.
This follows several years of the same in Parachinar and others spots.