Sectarian Violence in Balochistan - 2009

Date

Incident

January 10

In a sectarian incident, unidentified men killed a central leader of the Fiqah Jafferia along with his guard in Sibi District. The assailants opened fire on Saqlain Haider and his guard, Ghulam Ali.

February 2

Unidentified gunmen killed a Shia trader in Quetta in an attack apparently linked to the recent cycle of sectarian killings in the provincial capital. Syed Iqbal Zaidi, a resident of Quetta's Shahbaz Town locality, was driving home when two men on a motorcycle shot him near Sariab Bridge on Zargoon Road and fled, Police said.

February 18

In a suspected sectarian incident, unidentified men killed the Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat-Noorani provincial leader Maulana Iftikhar Ahmed Habibi in Quetta. Police said Habibi, who was also a regular Islamic commentator on Pakistan Television, was killed by unidentified men when he was on his way to work. "This is an act of sectarianism carried out by those who had previously threatened to kill Habibi," Mir Abdul Qudoos Sasooli, the provincial president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, said. "The murder was carried out by the activists of banned organisations which are operating now under new names," he said.

March 1

In an apparent act of sectarian violence in provincial capital Quetta, unidentified men murdered a man and his son, both from the Shia sect. The motorcycle borne attackers opened fire on the victims at their shop on Quetta's Double Road, killing Haji Sakhi and his son, Ghulam Ali, on the spot.

March 3

Five Shias were killed in Quetta when unidentified assailants attacked members of a family in the city - taking the death toll from sectarian attacks in a single week to 12. According to Police, the assailants ambushed a van carrying the Shia family on the eastern bypass of Quetta - killing five people on the spot. The slain civilians were returning to Quetta from the Mach area when they were targeted. "It is a target killing," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Wazir Khan Nasar said. Although no group claimed responsibility for the incident, the killings are reported to be part of a series of sectarian attacks that started in Quetta a couple of months ago. The banned Sunni terrorist group, LeJ, has reportedly claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks.

March 9

Unidentified men on a motorbike killed two Shias in an apparent sectarian attack in Quetta. The victims were shot in their car on Kirani road, on the outskirts of the Balochistan capital. "Two men from the Shia community were shot dead by unknown gunmen riding a motorbike," a Police official said. The attack came a week after five Shias were killed in another drive-by shooting in Quetta.

June 22

Three Shias, including a union council chief, were killed in Quetta, the Balochistan capital, by unidentified men in a suspected sectarian incident. Unidentified armed men reportedly opened fire on Talib Agha, Union Council 47 chief in Quetta, when he was on his way home along with his driver and security guard. Witnesses said Agha had just closed his showroom and was driving back on Fatima Jinnah Road when the men fired at his car. He died on the spot, while his security guard Jawad Hussain died on the way to hospital. The driver, Hassan Ali, died at Quetta’s Civil Hospital. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

June 23

The principal of the Government Commerce College was shot dead by two motorcycle borne assailants in a suspected sectarian incident in Quetta, capital of Balochistan. Professor Amanat Ali was reportedly ambushed while traveling to his college. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

The principal of a school was shot dead in a suspected sectarian incident in Quetta. Police said Haji Mohammad Mohsin, principal of the Government High School in Sariab Mills, was going to school when armed men riding a motorcycle opened fire on him, killing him on the spot. "It is a target killing," a Police officer said, adding that raids were being carried out in various areas to arrest the killers.

Unidentified assailants shot dead a Professor of the Government Degree College on the Sariab Road in Quetta. Police officials said motorcycle borne gunmen opened fire on Haji Ghulam Sarwar, a Chemistry professor, when he was entering his house near the Tariq Hospital on Sariab Road. He sustained multiple bullet injuries and died on the spot. Haji Ghulam Sarwar is the sixth academician to be a victim of target killings in Balochistan during the last couple of months.

August 17

Police said cardiologist Dr Abid Iqbal Zaidi was shot dead by unidentified armed men on the Fatima Jinnah Road in Quetta when he reached his private clinic around 6pm (PST). The cause of the murder is yet to be confirmed, but the Police stated that it is an incident of target killing.

August 17

A man and his two sons were shot dead by unidentified armed men on Sirki Road in Quetta. Police said the owner of a welding shop, Sher Ahmed, was on his way home along with his two sons - Shabir Ahmed and Jalil Ahmed - when they were attacked. Police said some unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate firing with automatic weapons on them. While Jalil Ahmed died at the incident site, Sher Ahmed and Shabir Ahmed succumbed to their injuries in the Bolan Medical Complex Hospital.

August 21

An attack on the Jaffaria Alliance Balochistan chief Allama Maqsood Domki was foiled in Quetta by the Shia cleric’s own guards. According to Police, unidentified men opened fire on Domki at Ibrahim Street, McCongi Road, as he was on his way home after Friday prayers. Domki’s guards retaliated, killing one attacker on the spot, while two of his accomplices managed to escape. The Police said it had recovered two mobile phones and a grenade from the slain attacker.

October 12

Unidentified armed men killed the Balochistan Chief Mines Inspector on Sariab Road in Quetta. Ashraf Ali was a member of the Shia Hazara community. The suspected sectarian killing of the Hazara official occurred in the wake of a statement by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that regretted target killings of Hazara. Quoting the Hazara community, the statement said 270 members of the community had been killed since 2004.