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Gunmen killed the provincial leader of a Pakistani Sunni sectarian group yesterday and police deployed to prevent more violence after the anti-Shia faction called for protests. |
Maulana Shamsur Rehman, Punjab leader of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama (ASWJ), was shot while leaving a mosque, said Mahmmed Rafiq from Shafiqabad police station.
Rehman’s group was formed by members of the banned organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba, which had repeatedly said it wanted to expel Shias from Pakistan.
ASWJ leader Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi said in a tweet that the killing of Rehman was part of a “big plot” and that “the situation is now getting out of control.” Another party official tweeted that “party workers should be ready to protest
countrywide.”
Around 150 protesters had gathered in the capital of Islamabad, police said, and nearby markets were closed in case of violence.
Extra police were deployed at Shia mosques there and in Pakistan’s financial heart of Karachi. The port city of 18mn people is plagued by sectarian violence.
Sectarian strife has been worsening in Pakistan, where Shias make up about 20% of the 180mn population.
Last month, a clash between a Shia procession and a Sunni seminary left eight Sunnis dead in Rawalpindi and violence spread to two other cities.
The Sunni sectarian group Sipah-e-Sahaba was banned in 2001 under US pressure.
