Azaranica is a non-biased news aggregator on Hazaras. The main aim is to promote understanding and respect for cultural identities by highlighting the realities they face on daily basis...Hazaras have been the victim of active persecution and discrimination and one of the reasons among many has been the lack of information, awareness, and disinformation.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

60 Hazaras fall victim to terrorism this year


From the Newspaper

QUETTA: At least 60 people belonging to Hazara community living in Quetta have been killed in targeted attacks, including suicide, remote controlled and timer device bombings and firing, during the past six months.

In January, 14 Hazara people were killed in various attacks. Three members of the community were killed in March and about 20 in April. In May, six Hazaras were shot dead in different attacks.

During the current month, at least 18 Hazaras have been killed in two suicide car bomb attacks.

On June 18, a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden car hit in Jinnah Town a bus carrying students belonging to the community from Marriabad area of Quetta to a university.

The target of Thursday’s bomb attack was a Quetta-bound bus carrying Hazara community pilgrims returning from Iran.—Correspondent

ETHNIC CLEANSING OF SHIAS CONTINUES


Shahzada Zulfiqar




QUETTA/PESHAWAR - At least 22 people, including 13 Shias, were killed in Quetta and Khyber Agency’s Bara tehsil on Thursday when a car bomb tore through a bus carrying pilgrims in the troubled Balochistan province and militants staged several attacks in the tribal agency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta and said it was a suicide attack targeting Shias.

Reports said the bus attacked in Quetta was carrying Shia pilgrims from Taftan, Iran and was targeted near a fruit market in the provincial capital’s Hazarganji area.

The dead included two women and two policemen escorting the bus, while over two dozen people were injured in the blast.

Some claimed that the blast was a suicide attack, but officials denied, with Quetta Capital City Police Officer Mir Zubair Mahmood saying the bus had been targeted with an explosives-laden car parked along the road in Hazarganji. He said the bus was carrying around 50 Shia pilgrims of the Hazara community from Taftan to Quetta.

The Bomb Disposal Squad said a remote-controlled bomb of around 50 kg had been used in the attack.
DIG Investigation Hamid Shakeel confirmed that passengers were pilgrims and were returning to Quetta after performing pilgrimage in Iran. 

Locals said the bomb blast was so intense that it engulfed the bus in flames, forcing it into a ravine 50 feet below the road.

People from the surroundings rushed to help the injured, while rescue officials also arrived at the scene some time later. An emergency was declared in all hospitals of Quetta. Quetta has been rife with sectarian violence in recent months and Shias of the Hazara tribe have specifically been the target of hardliner Sunnis. 

Several dozens have been killed over the past few months, but officials have only been paying a lip service and no assassin has been brought to the book so far. 

In several chilling incidents, Shias have been hauled off buses, identified and shot dead in cold blood. Two such incidents occurred in September 2011 and in February 2012.

On April 14 this year gunmen riding a motorcycle in Quetta killed eight Shia Muslims in two attacks just minutes apart. Such “sport” killing of Shias has blemished the government’s already tattered image and brought condemnations from around the globe.

Meanwhile, at least nine people, including seven personnel of security forces, were killed and several others injured in three terrorist acts in Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency. Those killed included a captain of Frontier Corps and two volunteers of peace lashkar. 

The most tragic terrorist act of the day occurred at Al Haaj Market in Bara where a vehicle of security forces was targeted by militants with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The official said seven personnel, including a captain were killed and four others injured. Two hours before of the attack, a patrolling party of security forces was targeted by militants with an IED at Qambarabad. Three personnel of security forces were injured in the attack. Early on Thursday, volunteers of a peace lashkar were targeted with a similar IED at Sheen Qamar area. The volunteers, Abdullah and Taj, were killed on the spot.


‘Suicide’ blast: 14 killed in attack on Hazara pilgrims


By Our Correspondent
Published: June 29, 2012


Volunteers search the wreckage of the bus carrying pilgrims. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA:

There is no respite for Balochistan’s capital.

At least 14 people, including two policemen and a woman, were killed and 30 others were injured in what is believed to be a suicide attack on a bus carrying pilgrims returning from Iran on Thursday.

Home Secretary Naseebullah Bazai told The Express Tribune that the attack was a suicide blast and the suicide bomber was in a private car which hit the bus in the Hazar Ganji area of Quetta.

“At least 14 people were killed and 30 others sustained injuries,” Bazai said.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack. The banned outfit’s spokesperson Abdu Bakar said the attack was carried out by Ziaur Rahman Farooqi and was in revenge for attacks on a madrassa and tablighi centre.

According to sources, the bus was carrying 50 passengers and was on its way from Taftan, a border town between Iran and Pakistan, when it was hit by a car from the opposite direction.

“Two police mobiles were providing security to the bus,” sources said, adding that a majority of the Zaireen (pilgrims) belonged to the Hazara community.

The bus and the police mobile vans were completely destroyed in the attack.

“Two policemen were killed and three sustained injuries while performing their duties,” Capital City Police Officer Meer Zubair said. “At least 50 kilogrammes of explosive material was used in the blast,” a Bomb Disposal Squad official told reporters.

Sources at the Provincial Home Department told The Express Tribunethat the bus should have been stopped at a secure place for security clearance before heading towards the city. The home secretary said that another bus carrying Zaireen had been stopped in Mustang for security reasons and arrived at the attack site 30 minutes after the incident. The passengers of the other bus were escorted back to their homes by levies officials.

The deceased and injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital, Bolan Medical Complex and Combined Military Hospital.

The Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), Tahfuz-e-Izadari Council,Tehrik Nifaz-i- Jaffaria, Balochistan Shia Conference, Paktunkwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) and other political parties condemned the attack and urged that the culprits be brought to justice.

The attack comes a day after a bomb planted under a tea stall at a railway station in the Sibi Railway Station killed seven people, including a child, and wounded more than a dozen others.


Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2012.

Aaj kamran khan ke saath - 28th june 2012 part 1

Primary images of Bus Attack Victims


کوئٹہ: زائرین کی بس میں دھماکہ، چھ ہلاک


آخری وقت اشاعت: جمعرات 28 جون 2012 ,‭ 16:07 GMT 21:07 PST



پاکستان کےصوبہ بلوچستان کے دارلحکومت کوئٹہ میں ایران جانے والی زائرین کی بس میں دھماکے سے چھ افراد ہلاک اور پندرہ مسافر زخمی ہو گئے۔

کوئٹہ کے علاقے ہزار گنجی میں جمعرات کی شام ایران جانے والی زائرین کی بس کے قریب اس وقت دھماکہ ہوا جب بس پولیس کی نگرانی میں ہزارگنجی سے تفتان کے لیے روانہ ہوئی۔

ابتدائی اطلاعات کے مطابق دھماکے میں ایک پولیس اہلکار سمیت چھ افراد ہلا ک اور پندرہ زخمی ہوئے جن میں خواتین اور بچے بھی شامل ہیں۔

عینی شاہدین کے مطابق بس کو پہاڑی علاقے سے راکٹ کے ذریعے نشانہ بنایاگیا جس سے زور دار دھماکہ ہوا اور اس کے بعد بس الٹ گئی۔

پولیس کے مطابق بس میں ساٹھ کے قریب مسافر سوار تھے جن میں سے اکثر کا تعلق ہزارہ قبیلے سے ہے۔

نامہ نگار ایوب ترین کے مطابق دھماکے کے بعد زخمیوں کو سول ہسپتال، بولان میڈیکل کمپلیکس اور سی ایم ایچ ہسپتال کوئٹہ منتقل کیا گیا۔

دھماکے کے بعد پولیس اور فرنٹیئرکور کے اہلکار موقع پر پہنچ گئے اور علاقے کو گھیرے میں لیکر تحقیقات شروع کردیں۔

دوسری جانب بلوچ لیبریشن آرمی کے ترجمان میرک بلوچ نے ایک نامعلوم مقام سے بی بی سی کو ٹیلی فون کر کے سبی ریلوے سٹیشن پر کل رات ہونے والے بم دھماکے کی ذمہ داری قبول کی ہے جس میں چھ افراد ہلاک ہوئے تھے۔

ترجمان کا کہنا تھا کہ بلوچ مزاحمت کاروں نے سیکورٹی فورسز کی ایک بوگی کو نشانہ بنایا۔

واضح رہے کہ کل رات سبی ریلوے سٹیشن پر پلیٹ فارم نمبر دو پر قائم چائے کی دکان پر دھماکہ ہواتھا جس میں چھ افراد ہلاک اور بیس زخمی ہوئے تھے۔

ہلاک ہونے والوں میں سے ایک کاتعلق پنجاب اورتین کا تعلق سبی سے تھا جبکہ ایک بچے سمیت دوافراد کی تاحال شناخت نہیں ہوسکی۔

Blast targets bus carrying Shia pilgrims in Quetta, 18 killed

By Web Desk
Published: June 28, 2012


A paramilitary soldier stands guard near a damaged bus destroyed in a bomb attack in the outskirts of Quetta June 28, 2012. PHOTO: REUTERS

QUETTA: A blast in the Hazarganji area of Quetta targeted a bus carrying Shia pilgrims from Taftan to the provincial capital on Thursday, Express News reported. Eighteen people were killed and 30 were injured as a result of the blast.

Eyewitnesses said that the bus was carrying pilgrims from Taftan and it was targeted when it was passing near a fruit market in the Hazarganji area. Around 15-20kg explosives were used in the blast. A woman and a policeman are also among the dead.

Some eyewitnesses have also claimed that the blast was a suicide attack, officials have not confirmed this as yet.

Initial reports also state that four policemen on the mobile were injured after the blast.

There is no confirmation on the nature of the blast as yet.

It has also been reported that the bus was destroyed as a result of the blast.

The injured were shifted to Civil hospital and Bolan Medical Complex.

Correction: An earlier version of this article had incorrectly mentioned the location of Taftan. The correction has been made.