Seven dead in sectarian clashes

AFP/Islamabad

The clashes erupted in Rawalpindi, the neighbouring city of the capital Islamabad, when a procession by Shias in the main downtown area coincided with a sermon in a nearby Sunni mosque.

“The death toll from the clashes has reached seven people and 34 others are injured,” Muhammad Shoaib, an official at Rawalpindi’s district hospital, said.

Police said private properties were also set on fire during the clashes.

“The clashes started when a sermon was being delivered from a Sunni mosque which was on the procession route. The infuriated Shias attacked the mosque and also set fire to a cloth market,” Waseem Ahmed, a police official, said.

Another police official said shots rang out during the fighting and that the authorities were braced for further injuries.

“According to latest reports, gunshots were also fired during the clashes. We fear there will be more casualties,” Muhammad Yasir, an official at a police control room, said.

Media reports said large contingents of troops were deployed in the city following the clashes and forces used tear gas to disperse the rival groups.

According to AFP photo and video journalists, violent youths attacked rival groups and also broke the cameras of reporters who arrived on scene.

Video footage also showed participants of the procession beating policemen.

Mobile phone services were suspended in major cities and thousands of security personnel were deployed across Pakistan yesterday to avoid attacks by Taliban on minority Shias marking Ashura, officials said.

An official of Pakistan Telecom Authority said that phone services were being switched off in at least 80 cities.

“The measure has been taken at the request of the interior ministry as militants use mobile phones to detonate bombs,” he said.

The government has made elaborate arrangements to provide security for the processions held by Shias in all major cities.

“More than 100,000 policemen have been deployed in the biggest province of Punjab,” an official from the provincial police said.

Police vehicles fitted with signal jamming devices are moving with the processions. Pillion riding is also banned in the major cities to prevent a common means of attack.

Human Rights Watch urged Pakistan on Tuesday to protect Shias on Ashura day from extremists affiliated with Taliban and Al Qaeda, who regularly target their religious gatherings.

“Pakistan’s Shia citizens should be able to participate in Ashura processions without fear of predictable attack while the government just looks on,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director at Human Rights Watch.

Police on Thursday killed at least six militants in the southern port city of Karachi, who were planning attacks, senior police official Chaudhry Aslam said.