MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan’s anti-terrorist police and the country’s intelligence agency raided the hideouts of an illegal Shiite militant group in Punjab province and arrested seven suspects who allegedly wanted to attack leaders of rival groups of Sunni Muslims, a doorman said. – Thursday voice.
In a statement, the Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department said the suspects in the Sipah-e-Mohammad group had been arrested in three separate attacks in the past 24 hours in the cities of Sargodha, Khusab and Sahiwal.
According to the report, police seized material for the manufacture of bombs and weapons that would be used in sectarian attacks by the arrested men. The suspects were being led by militant leader Mehmood Iqbal, who was hiding in a neighboring country, officials said. The authorities did not release the name of the country, but the authorities had already blamed Iran for supporting Shiite militants.
Pakistani security forces often make these arrests, but the latter occurred shortly after Sunni militants killed 11 Shiite coal miners they had kidnapped in southwestern Baluchistan.
Angered by the death of coal miners on Sunday, hundreds of minority Shiites from the Hazara community gathered in Quetta, the capital of the province of Balochistan.
The coal miners killed were also from the Hazara community, which has been repeatedly targeted by Sunni militants, including an Islamic State affiliate who took responsibility for the kidnapping and death of the miners some 48 kilometers (30 miles) east of Quetta.
According to Islamic tradition, burials take place as quickly as possible after death. But the Shiites refused to bury the dead. They also said they would not hold funerals until the authorities arrested the killers.
On Thursday, opposition leaders, including Bilawal Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan People’s Party, and Maryam Nawaz, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League party, traveled to Quetta, where they asked the Shiites to bury the miners. But the mourners refused, saying they would only do so when Prime Minister Imran Khan visited them to ensure their protection. Khan has faced criticism from the country’s opposition, who called him an “insensitive person” for not visiting Quetta quickly to express condolences to the Shiites who lost their loved ones in Sunday’s violence.
Angered by the deaths, the Shiites continued their protest for the fifth consecutive day in Quetta.
Shiites have been demanding a crackdown on the Sunni-banned Sipah-e-Sahaba group that has killed many Shiite Muslims across Pakistan in recent years. Islamic State and other Sunni extremist groups view Shiites as apostates and often target them in deadly attacks.