Shia Muslims killed inside a mosque in Pakistan
Murad Makhmudov and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
A brutal Sunni Islamist attack against Shia Muslims in Pakistan took place inside a holy Shia mosque. Reports indicate that at least 45 people have perished in this brutal terrorist attack in the city of Peshawar.
Sectarianism in Pakistan continues to blight the nation along with ethnic faultlines. Similarly, smaller religious minorities – the Ahmaddiya, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs – suffer persecution, including the forceable conversion of young ladies to Islam concerning marriage.
Mohammad Sajjad Khan, a serving police officer, told Reuters, “We are in a state of emergency and the injured are being shifted to the hospital. We are investigating the nature of the blast but it seemed to be a suicide attack.”
The Independent reports, “In Pakistan where a majority of Muslims belong to Sunni sect, minority Shiite Muslims have come under repeated attacks. They are targeted by both the Islamic State group and a violent Pakistani Taliban organization, that have carried out similar attacks in the past.”
In recent years, Sunni Islamist terrorist groups have been targeted more by the security forces. However, some Islamist groups also focused on helping the Sunni Islamist cause in Afghanistan – similar to the government. Therefore, the fear is that Islamic State, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and others, might increase sectarian attacks given the changing regional environment.
BBC reports, “Thousands of people have been killed, most of them Shias, in Pakistan’s sectarian violence in recent years.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60617108
MODERN TOKYO TIMES PHOTO IMAGES
PLEASE DONATE TO HELP MODERN TOKYO TIMES
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi personal website and Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK