Shiite’s furious over the sectarian bombing that killed 85 people protested on Monday, demanding that security forces protect them from militant groups while denying to bury the victims of the bombing untill military takes over the Quetta.
The attack, near a street market in the southwestern city of Quetta on Saturday, highlighted the government’s failure to crack down on militancy just a few months before the general election.
While the Taliban and Al Qaeda remain a major source of instability, other extremist groups have emerged as another significant security threat.
Shiite frustrations with waves of attacks on them have reached boiling point.
In Quetta, Shiite Hazaras are refusing to bury their dead until the army and security forces go after Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the group which claimed responsibility for the latest bombing.
Around 4,000 men, women and children placed 71 bodies beside a mosque.
Protesters chanted “stop killing Shiites”.
“We stand firm for our demands of handing over the city to army and carrying out targeted operation against terrorists and their supporters,” said Syed Muhammad Hadi, spokesman for an alliance of Shiite groups.
“We will not bury the bodies unless our demands are met.”
The paramilitary Frontier Corps is largely responsible for security in Baluchistan but Shiites say it is unable or unwilling to protect them.
LeJ has stepped up suicide bombings and shootings in a bid to destabilize strategic United States ally Pakistan.
The group was behind a bombing last month in Quetta, that killed nearly 100 people.
In Karachi, a strike to protest against the Quetta bloodshed brought Pakistan’s commercial hub to a standstill.
Authorities boosted security as protesters blocked roads, including routes to the airport, disrupted rail services to other parts of the country and torched vehicles.
The roughly 500,000-strong Hazara people in Quetta, who speak a Persian dialect, have distinct features and are an easy target.
May God bless departed souls
Pakistam Today: I would like to see how impartial you are and whether you publish my comments or not.
Amir the deleted my comments too .. I think Pakistan today is too scared to publish any comments ………..
In that case, they should shutdown this useless website. If all they want is to publish the goodie-goodie comments then there is no point to post comments here.. They need to grow some b@lls.
There are people creating mahem in this country almost on daily basis and these newspapers, who are considered as one of the pillars of the society, are simply too scared to publish people's sentiments. I have not seen any meaningful comments from any of the government officials so far. Are these peoplel not humans that are being slaughtered on daily basis?
We all need to condemn these acts by faceless and un-Islamic cowards of LeJ.
My reply to your comment went into the moderation abyss.
All you have to do is line up the Security in charge of the area with his team and bury them with the dead and the rest will start to perform.CJ to please not take any notice because that would mean case burried too. I am told a major chunk of our media is on the payroll of you know whome.
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