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Eleven arrested in Pak for attacking police trainees
Quetta, June 09: Police in Pakistan have detained nearly a dozen suspected Islamic militants in connection with a machine-gun attack on a group of young police trainees that shook this southwestern Pakistani city and renewed fears of deepening sectarian violence, officials said today.
Quetta, June 09: Police in Pakistan have detained nearly a dozen suspected Islamic militants in connection with a machine-gun attack on a group of young police trainees that shook this southwestern Pakistani city and renewed fears of deepening sectarian violence, officials said today.
The police recruits -- all members of Pakistan's Shiite Muslim minority -- were riding in a pickup truck when two gunmen on motorcycles opened fire Sunday. Twelve trainees were killed and eight injured in the attack.
Shoaib Suddle, Quetta's police chief, said that authorities fanned out after the attack, arresting 11 men with suspected ties to Sunni militant groups. It was not clear what evidence police had linking the men to Sunday's killings. It was the third attack targeting Shiites in Quetta in little over a week, and all were carried out in similar fashion. On Friday, motorcycle gunmen in Quetta shot and killed a Shiite Muslim prayer leader as he drove home. And on May 31, two gunmen riding motorcycles ambushed a car carrying Ghulam Nabi, a prominent local Shiite, wounding him and killing his son. They, too, were returning to Quetta on a different road.
Suddle said at least 20 additional suspects had already been arrested in connection with the previous killings. Most of Pakistan's majority Sunnis live peacefully with their Shiite brethren, but small extremist groups from both sects have been blamed for attacking each other in sectarian violence that has plagued the country for decades
Shiite and Sunni Muslims fell out in the 7th century over who was the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammed following his death. In a move to end religious extremism in Pakistan, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has outlawed several militant groups, including at least two Sunni outfits - Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi - that are blamed for involvement in the killing of hundreds of Shiites. The police recruits were members of the Hazara ethnic group, who are mainly Shiites and account for about 300,000 of Quetta's 1.4 million population.
Many shopkeepers in Quetta remained closed to express solidarity with the Hazara community and press police to arrest the culprits, said Abdur Rahim Kakar, head of the shopkeepers association.
Security has been tightened in the city and paramilitary troops have been called in for additional patrolling, said Rehmatullah Khan Niazi, a senior superintendent of police. Bureau Report
Shoaib Suddle, Quetta's police chief, said that authorities fanned out after the attack, arresting 11 men with suspected ties to Sunni militant groups. It was not clear what evidence police had linking the men to Sunday's killings. It was the third attack targeting Shiites in Quetta in little over a week, and all were carried out in similar fashion. On Friday, motorcycle gunmen in Quetta shot and killed a Shiite Muslim prayer leader as he drove home. And on May 31, two gunmen riding motorcycles ambushed a car carrying Ghulam Nabi, a prominent local Shiite, wounding him and killing his son. They, too, were returning to Quetta on a different road.
Suddle said at least 20 additional suspects had already been arrested in connection with the previous killings. Most of Pakistan's majority Sunnis live peacefully with their Shiite brethren, but small extremist groups from both sects have been blamed for attacking each other in sectarian violence that has plagued the country for decades
Shiite and Sunni Muslims fell out in the 7th century over who was the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammed following his death. In a move to end religious extremism in Pakistan, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has outlawed several militant groups, including at least two Sunni outfits - Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi - that are blamed for involvement in the killing of hundreds of Shiites. The police recruits were members of the Hazara ethnic group, who are mainly Shiites and account for about 300,000 of Quetta's 1.4 million population.
Many shopkeepers in Quetta remained closed to express solidarity with the Hazara community and press police to arrest the culprits, said Abdur Rahim Kakar, head of the shopkeepers association.
Security has been tightened in the city and paramilitary troops have been called in for additional patrolling, said Rehmatullah Khan Niazi, a senior superintendent of police. Bureau Report