|
Pakistani forces kill, arrest dozens after IS shrine bombing
[SCMP] Pak security forces killed dozens of suspected forces of Evil on Friday, a day after Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... claimed a suicide kaboom that killed more than 80 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in the latest of a series of attacks across the country. The bombing at the famed Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in southern Sindh province was Pakistain’s deadliest attack in two years, killing at least 83 people and underlining the threat of bully boy groups like the Pak Taliban and Islamic State. With authorities facing angry criticism for failing to tighten security before the bomber struck, analysts warned that the wave of violence pointed to a major escalation in Islamist bully boys’ attempts to destabilise the region. "This is a virtual declaration of war against the state of Pakistain," said Imtiaz Gul, head of the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad. With pressure growing for action, Pakistain demanded that neighbouring Afghanistan hand over 76 "terrorists" it said were sheltering over the border. The bombings over five days have hit all four of Pakistain’s provinces and two major cities, killing around 100 people and shaking a nascent sense that the worst of the country’s bully boy violence may be in the past. A series of military operations against holy warrior groups operating in Pakistain had encouraged hopes that their leaders were scattered. "But this has led to a degree of complacency within our civil-military leadership that perhaps they have completely destroyed these elements, or broken their back," Gul said. If so, that impression has been shattered by the events of recent days. At Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, the white marble floor was still marked by blood on Friday, and a pile of abandoned shoes and slippers was heaped in the courtyard, many of them belonging to victims. Outside, protesters shouted slogans at police, who they said had failed to protect the shrine. "I wish I could have been here and died in the blast last night," a devastated Ali Hussain told Rooters, sitting on the floor of the shrine. He said that local Sufis had asked for better security after a separate bombing this week killed 13 people in the eastern city of Lahore, but added: "No one bothered to secure this place". Anwer Ali, 25, rushed to the shrine after he heard the kaboom, and described seeing dead bodies and chaos as people expeditiously departed at a goodly pace. "There were threats to the shrine. The Taliban had warned that they will attack here, but authorities didn’t take it seriously," Ali said. Sindh police chief A.D. Khawaja said on Friday that the corpse count had reached 83 people with scores more maimed. Posted by: Fred 2017-02-18 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=481500 |