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| India-Pakistan |
| Top Pakistani extremist killed in 'shoot-out' with police |
| 2015-11-27 |
| [AlAhram] A top member of a Pak Sunni bad boy group that has been behind numerous bloody attacks on minority Shiite Muslims has been killed in a shoot-out with police, officials said on Thursday. Haroon Bhatti, a senior member of the 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), was incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... with the help of Interpol last month in Dubai and brought to Pakistain. "Bhatti was being interrogated and during the course of interrogation, the police raided a compound of snuffies Wednesday night" in the eastern city of Lahore, senior local police official Omar Virk told AFP. He said the Lions of Islam opened fire on the police from the compound. Bhatti, who had identified the compound for police, had accompanied them on the raid, he said, adding that the bad boy and three other Lions of Islam were killed inside the compound "in the exchange of fire". So-called "encounter" killings like Thursday's incident have long aroused suspicion among rights activists in Pakistain, who accuse the authorities of using them as a means of disposing of troublesome Lions of Islam and criminals without going through the courts. Pakistain's legal system is notoriously slow and relies heavily on witness testimony rather than scene of the crime evidence. Cases against Lions of Islam affiliated with groups like LeJ often collapse because there is little protection from intimidation for judges or witnesses. LeJ has grabbed credit for some of the most brazen attacks on Shiites in Pakistain's recent history, including a January 2013 bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta that killed over a hundred members of the Shiite Hazara minority group. In February 2013, LeJ grabbed credit for another attack in the same neighbourhood that killed around 80 members from the Hazara community. Authorities had also been accused of quietly tolerating LeJ until July, when the organization's leadership was wiped out in a battle with police in the eastern city of Lahore. The group remains active, according to experts. |
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