On July 10, in Afghanistan’s eastern border province of Paktia, gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying Pakistani tribal people who had crossed into Afghanistan to buy supplies. The ambush blamed on Taliban, claimed 14 lives. All the victims belonged to Parachinar, (Kurrum Agency), all were Shia.

The deceased belonged to Tori and Khushi tribes of Parachinar, a local resident Ali Azfal told Viewpoint. None of the militants’ groups had by the time of filing this report claimed responsibility for the gruesome attack.

The killings of 14 more Shias hailing from Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram tribal region, is the latest incident of sectarian violence in two of the Pashtoon-populated areas: Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province and FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas).

For last three years, both these adjacent regions----already paralysed by Taliban-insurgency and US drone attacks----have been caught in a whirl of Shia-Sunni warfare. The Kurrum Agency has in particular borne the brunt of sectarian strife. The local administration at Kurram Agency blocked all the roads linking this region to rest of the country in early 2008 when the sectarian violence went out of anybody’s control. The Kurrum residents ever since have been travelling through bordering-Afghanistan to reach their desired destinations in Pakistan.

Though the political administration of Kurram Agency claims that the roads are open, locals deny these claims. The Kurrum residents say that the roadblocks are removed once a week only to ease the military conveys’ movement. The government has also started a chopper service for the local population but it is proving insufficient.

Former military ruler Gen. Zia ul Haq is widely blamed for plunging Pakistan into sectarian war. However, the sect-war has also intensified with the rise of Taliban. This at least is the case with Kyber-Pakhtoonkhwa and FATA.

 Talibanisation and sectarian strife

In recent years, various Taliban/Jihadi figures have stepped up their sectarian ’Jihad’. One such Taliban leader is Qari Hussain Mehsud. A prominent Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, Qari Hussain is famous among Taliban cadres by his nom de guerre Ustad-i-Fidayeen (teacher of suicide bombers). He has played a major role in fueling the sectarian fire in the country, particularly in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and Kurram tribal region. Qari Hussain, once active member of banned anti-Shia outfits like Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is believed to be a recruiter and trainer of suicide bombers.

Two years ago, the Shia tribes in Kurram Agency formed a tribal militia (Lashkar) to stop Taliban’s infiltration, from South Waziristan, to parts of Kurrum inhabited by Sunni tribes. But the Shia militia has also been blamed for several attacks on Sunni population in Sadda area of Kurram Agency. The ensuing clash between Shia and Taliban-backed-Sunni tribes has claimed 2000 lives while over 5000 have been wounded, according to the tribal elders of the region. When contacted by Viewpoint, officials did not either deny this claim or accepted the veracity of these figures.

’The Shias have all the right to protect themselves against the Taliban attacks,’ Syed Ali Shah Kazmi, a Shia leader from Parachinar, says. Talking to Viewpoint by telephone, he blamed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Sahaba and other militant groups for exporting the sectarian conflict to Kurrum Agency.

He also blamed the government for its failure to stop what he called the ’foreign funding of these militant groups’. However, he denied the allegations, leveled by rival-Sunni tribes, of receiving funds and arms from Iran and certain Tajik leaders of Afghanistan.

 Deobandis fight Deobandis in Khyber Agency

’The five-year-old armed conflict between the two religious groups of Khyber Agency - Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) and Ansaar-ul-Islam (AI) - is a complex affair since both of them belong to Deobandi school of thought’, says tribal elder Haji Khata Gul Afridi.

The fighting engulfed Bara sub-district of Khyber Agency early 2005. Initially, Mufti Munir Shakir, the then head of LI, was pitched against Pir Saif ur Rehman and his disciples, who were followers of Barelvi sect. ’The immediate reason was their respective illegal FM radio channels airing religious programs in Pashto language. Both FM channels were popular also because of local population’s adherence to Islam," Khata Gul Afridi recalls.

A large number of seminaries in the Frontier province and its adjacent tribal areas used to run illegal frequency modulation (FM) radio stations at the time the USA invaded Afghanistan. These seminaries were airing religious programs urging ’faithful’ to wage ’Jihad against the USA and its allied forces in Afghanistan’.

The wide-spread use of illegal radio channels was taken notice of in 2005 when the followers of Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saif ur Rehman clashed with each other over the issue of propagating their thoughts through these illegal FM frequencies. Their conflict led to their expulsion from Khyber Agency [1].

Pir Saif ur Rehman later went to Lahore after the expulsion, where he died in June 2010, while his disciples took refuge in Terrah valley of Khyber Agency, which infuriated the LI, Ibrahim Shinwari told Viewpoint. Ibrahim Shinwari is a tribal journalist reporting on Bara violence since its start.

After the ouster of Mufti Munir Shakir, his disciple Mangal Bagh Afridi began to steer the LI. He continued with the practice of airing hard-line religious views through the illegal FM station. Through his radio channel, he urged the residents of Terrah valley to hand him over Pir Saif ur Rehman’s followers. To counter LI’s threats and influence in Terrah valley, Ansaar-ul-Islam (AI) under the stewardship of Haji Mehboob-ur-Rehman, also a Deobandi, emerged on the scene.

In 2006, more than 120 activists on both sides were killed in factional clashes spurred on by radio sermons, says Ibrahim Shinwari. He claims that more than 500 people have been killed and over 800 injured in clashes between LI and AI. Again, Viewpoint could not ascertain the authenticity of the toll from Khyber Agency’s officials. However, various press reports have mentioned as high a figure as mentioned by Ibrahim Shinwari.

Apparently, the political administration and army have failed to eliminate Mangal Bagh and disarm the LI despite several military operations in Bara area. The LI has now spread its tentacles to Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Terrah valley has escaped military operations so far. However, it has become an AI emirate run in line with AI’s whims promulgated as Sharia.

 Sectarian clashes compound Pakhtoonkhwa’s tragedy

The sectarian issue popped up way back in 1980s when the defunct Anjuman-i-Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (ASSP), under the leadership of Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi and Azam Tariq, emerged from Jhang (Punjab province) demanding that Pakistan be declared a Sunni state. To counter the ASSP, the Shias established their own party called Tehriki-Nifaz-i-Fiqh-i-Jaafria (TNFJ). The TNFJ wanted the implementation of a Shia version of Islamic laws, at least in case of Shia citizens of the country.Soon after the formation of these parties, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa became a battleground for sectarian battles. The Kurram Agency, bordering Afghanistan, became a hot-spot where tribal conflicts also assumed sectarian colour. Tori and Khushi are Shia tribes while Bangash, Mangal and Zazi are Sunni tribes.

When Shia leader from Kurram Agency with a nationwide following, Allama Ariful Hussaini, was gunned down, far off towns like Jhang, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar were rocked by revenge killings.

Official data shows that in 2000 there were 150 sectarian killings across Pakistan, while in 2001, 120 professionals and scholars were killed. A majority was Shia.

From 2003 to 2008, there were several attacks including suicide bombing at Imambargahs in Peshawar, Kohat, Hangu, Dera Ismail Khan districts of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Dera Ismail Khan, situated close to the Mehsuds-dominated South Waziristan Agency, in particular has been hit hard by Taliban owing to the large number of city’s Shia dwellers. A province stumbling from one atrocity to another for last thirty years, has now its tragedies compounded by sectarian clashes.

 Major sectarian clashes in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since Jan 1, 2007

Following is the chronology of major sectarian clashes in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Kurram tribal region since January 1, 2007.

* January 27, 2007: Fifteen people, including Peshawar police chief Malik Saad and five other police officials, were killed and 60 others injured in a suicide attack targeting a Muharram procession near Qasim Ali Khan Mosque in the Dilgaran area of Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar.

* August 4, 2007: Nine persons were killed and 43 others wounded when a suicide car bomber triggered an explosion at a busy bus stop near the entry point of Parachinar city.

* January 17, 2008: Twelve persons were killed and 25 others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the crowded Mirza Qasim Baig Imambargah in Peshawar city.

* February 16, 2008: A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the election office of an independent candidate Syed Riaz Hussain Shah in Parachinar city, killing at least 47 persons and injuring 109 others.

* July 13, 2008: Four persons were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up soon after the concluding session of the Shuhada-e-Islam Conference organized by Shiites in Kotly Imam Hussain locality in Dera Ismail Khan.

* August 19, 2008: Thirty-two persons, including seven policemen, were killed and 55 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the emergency ward of the District Headquarters Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan. The attack was carried out when a large number of Shiite people had gathered there to protest against the murder of the local Shiite leader Basit Ali earlier in the day.

* November 21, 2008: Six Shiites were killed and 25 more received severe injuries when a powerful bomb ripped through the funeral procession of a slain Shiite leader who was shot the previous night in Dera Ismail Khan.

* January 10, 2009: Four Shiites were killed and another 10 were injured when Taliban attacked Ashura Procession in Hangu.

* January 11, 2009: Seventeen Shiites were killed and more than 35 injured, when the Taliban attacked the Shiite populated areas of Hungu city including Aliabad town, Muhallah Ganjano Kalay, Muhallah Sangerh and Muhallah Paskaley.

* January 27, 2009: Syed Ather Shah, caretaker of Imambargah Faqir Shah in Muhallah Totaan Wala in Dera Ismail Khan, was killed by terrorists outside his home. Previously on 18 January, another Shiite, Ali Abbas was killed in the same city.

* February 2, 2009: Syed Munawar Kazmi of Shiite Dialogue Committee was shot injured in Dera Ismail Khan.

* February 10, 2009: Mualana Syed Shabir Hussain Shah, prayer leader at Masjid-e-Kotla-Qaim Shah in Dera Ismail Khan, was killed near Qureshi Maur.

* February 19, 2009: Six Shiites were killed in Parachinar, when Taliban, who are supporting the Sunnis, opened indiscriminate fire on them at mid-day. The victims had gone to collect wood from local forest.

* February 20, 2009: A suicide bomber killed at least 32 Shiites and injured another 157 who were attending the funeral of an already murdered Shiite leader in Dera Ismail Khan.

* September 18, 2009: At least 30 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide attack in the Kohat. Locals said most of the victims were Shiites and coalminers waiting for buses. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was carried out to avenge the killing of one of their leaders Muhammad Amin.

Shafiq Ahmad

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