[AnNahar] Pakistain is deploying some 10,000 troops and 6,000 paramilitary members to prevent sectarian violence during the holy month of Moharram, the interior minister said Wednesday.Moharram, which begins on Thursday and sees Shiites hold gatherings and processions to mourn the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussain, is frequently marred by sectarian violence, which has risen markedly in recent years.
Clashes between Sunnis and Shiites led to at least 11 deaths two years ago in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, close to the capital Islamabad.
"We have adopted a pro-active strategy like previous years and some 10,000 personnel from the army and another 6,300 from civil armed forces, including Rangers and Frontier Corps
...a provincial paramilitary force. Total manpower is about 80,000. They are tasked to help local law enforcement in the maintenance of law and order, and to carry out border patrol and anti-smuggling operations....
, will be deployed across Pakistain for security during the month of Moharram," Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar told a presser.
Sectarian violence -- in particular by Sunni hardliners against the Shiites that make up roughly 20 percent of Pakistain's 200 million people -- has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade.
In July the leader of an anti-Shiite group behind some of Pakistain's worst sectarian atrocities was killed in a shoot-out with police, along with 13 other murderous Moslems.
Malik Ishaq and his fellow Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
(LeJ) murderous Moslems, including senior commanders, were rubbed out in in Punjab.
And 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....
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
in May, a Pak official told AFP Monday, despite the government's long-held stance that the jihadist group does not have a presence in the country.
The worst atrocities, however, have been in the southwestern province of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, home to some 200,000 Shiites.
Shiite gatherings and processions during Muharram mark Hussain's martyrdom in the Battle of Karbala, Iraq, in 680 AD.
Hussain is equally revered by Sunnis, but hardliners oppose the public mourning of his martyrdom.