07-27-2007, 09:04 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Internal Security Threats: Suicide Bombings </b>Â
Karachi seminarians expect crackdown - ft.com
Hamza Shaheryar
Sources in the provincial home department say there are clear directives from Islamabad asking intelligence and law enforcement officials to keep a close watch on four major seminaries in the city
In the wake of the governmentâs operation against the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, seminary heads in Karachi are worried about the possibility of a crackdown on major madrassas in the city. Sources in the provincial home department say there are clear directives from Islamabad asking intelligence and law enforcement officials to keep a close watch on eleven madrassas in the country, including four in Karachi.
âWe have information from Islamabad that at least three or four major seminaries in Karachi are on the undeclared watch list of the government,â the administrator of a major seminary in the city told TFT. On the other hand, sources in the Sindh Home Department deny being issued any directive about taking any action against seminaries, although they have been asked to keep a âclose watchâ.
<b>Most of the seminaries on the watch list are Deobandi, while the rest are Ahle-Hadith. Deobandi seminaries number some 10,000 out of the 16,000 seminaries established across Pakistan, while the Ahle-Hadith school of thought has a negligible number of seminaries. Both were involved in the jihad in Afghanistan</b>.
Sources say that contrary to official figures, the number of madrassas in Sindh is much higher than 1,000. Two years ago, the interior ministry said there were at least 2,100 madrassas in Sindh, out of which 1,030 were registered while 1,070 were operating without official permission. About 277,805 students are enrolled in those seminaries. In the last two years, say officials, 200 new seminaries have been added to the list but remain unregistered.
âWe are very concerned about the unchecked increase and functioning of these unregistered institutions; they are fueling sectarian hatred and brainwashing young minds against Muslims of other sects,â an interior ministry insider told TFT.
Sectarian strife: a chronology of death:
Allama Hassan Turabiâs death on July 13, 2006 was the last sectarian attack and suicide bombing in Karachi. Shiite mosques and Imam Bargahs have been attacked seven times since 1995; 102 people have been killed and 250 injured in these attacks. Two of the attacks occurred on the same day in 1995; a total of 22 people were killed and 18 injured. Two mosques were attacked in May 2004; 49 people were killed and 200 injured. The latest incident was reported in May 2005 in which six people, including three suicide bombers, were killed. In the violence that followed the attack, a KFC outlet was torched; six of its employees lost their lives.
<b>Some important dates:</b>
May 8, 2002: A suicide attack on a bus killed 15 people, including 11 French workers.
May 7, 2004: At least 30 Shite worshipers were killed and hundreds injured in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque during Friday prayers.
May 30, 2004: Armed men ambushed and killed pro-Taliban Sunni cleric and chief of Banori Town mosque, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, in Karachi. His son, nephew and driver suffered wounds.
July 24, 2004: An employee of a local seminary, Jamiatul Rasheed, was killed and seven people, including four teachers, were injured in a bomb attack in the Gulshan-e-Maimar area of Karachi.
August 8, 2004: At least 10 people, including a three-year-old boy, were killed and 50 others injured in two bomb explosions near the Jamia Banoria, SITE Town.
October 6, 2004: Two police personnel were killed and a civilian injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen on a security post outside a Shiite mosque in Karachi.
October 9, 2004: Two Sunni clerics, Mufti Mohammad Jamil, a close aide of the late Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, and Maulana Nazeer Ahmed Taunsvi, were shot dead on Jehangir Road in Karachi.
November 16, 2004: Asim Ghafoor alias Qasim Sukkurwala, affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), was shot dead in an exchange of fire with police personnel in the Saeedabad area of Karachi.
April 6, 2005: Maulana Mohammed Amin Qadri, Sunni Tahrik leader and a government schoolteacher, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Pirabad area of Karachi.
June 23, 2005: Mufti Atiq ur Rahman, a cleric at the Jamia Banoria SITE Town was shot dead and his son and a man accompanying them were wounded in an attack near the Sindh Secretariat.
July 9, 2005: Unidentified men abducted and later shot dead Maulana Shamsuddin, a cleric in the Orangi Town area of Karachi.
July 17, 2005: A cleric, Maulana Abdullah Ahmed Madni, was killed and his father, Mufti Muhammad Ahmed Madni, injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in the Buffer Zone area of Karachi.
March 2, 2006: A US diplomat, identified as David Fyfe, his Pakistani driver and a Rangers official were killed and 54 persons injured in a suicide car bombing near the US consulate in Karachi. This was one day before US President George W Bush reached Pakistan.
April 6, 2006: Allama Hassan Turabi escaped unhurt while four people, including his son and a guard, suffered injuries in a bomb blast.
April 11, 2006: At least 60 people, including the top hierarchy of the Sunni Tehrik and other prominent religious personalities, were killed and over a 100 were injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack at Nishtar Park.
July 13, 2006: A suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the home of prominent Shiite cleric Allama Hassan Turabi, killing him and one of his relatives
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Karachi seminarians expect crackdown - ft.com
Hamza Shaheryar
Sources in the provincial home department say there are clear directives from Islamabad asking intelligence and law enforcement officials to keep a close watch on four major seminaries in the city
In the wake of the governmentâs operation against the Lal Masjid in Islamabad, seminary heads in Karachi are worried about the possibility of a crackdown on major madrassas in the city. Sources in the provincial home department say there are clear directives from Islamabad asking intelligence and law enforcement officials to keep a close watch on eleven madrassas in the country, including four in Karachi.
âWe have information from Islamabad that at least three or four major seminaries in Karachi are on the undeclared watch list of the government,â the administrator of a major seminary in the city told TFT. On the other hand, sources in the Sindh Home Department deny being issued any directive about taking any action against seminaries, although they have been asked to keep a âclose watchâ.
<b>Most of the seminaries on the watch list are Deobandi, while the rest are Ahle-Hadith. Deobandi seminaries number some 10,000 out of the 16,000 seminaries established across Pakistan, while the Ahle-Hadith school of thought has a negligible number of seminaries. Both were involved in the jihad in Afghanistan</b>.
Sources say that contrary to official figures, the number of madrassas in Sindh is much higher than 1,000. Two years ago, the interior ministry said there were at least 2,100 madrassas in Sindh, out of which 1,030 were registered while 1,070 were operating without official permission. About 277,805 students are enrolled in those seminaries. In the last two years, say officials, 200 new seminaries have been added to the list but remain unregistered.
âWe are very concerned about the unchecked increase and functioning of these unregistered institutions; they are fueling sectarian hatred and brainwashing young minds against Muslims of other sects,â an interior ministry insider told TFT.
Sectarian strife: a chronology of death:
Allama Hassan Turabiâs death on July 13, 2006 was the last sectarian attack and suicide bombing in Karachi. Shiite mosques and Imam Bargahs have been attacked seven times since 1995; 102 people have been killed and 250 injured in these attacks. Two of the attacks occurred on the same day in 1995; a total of 22 people were killed and 18 injured. Two mosques were attacked in May 2004; 49 people were killed and 200 injured. The latest incident was reported in May 2005 in which six people, including three suicide bombers, were killed. In the violence that followed the attack, a KFC outlet was torched; six of its employees lost their lives.
<b>Some important dates:</b>
May 8, 2002: A suicide attack on a bus killed 15 people, including 11 French workers.
May 7, 2004: At least 30 Shite worshipers were killed and hundreds injured in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque during Friday prayers.
May 30, 2004: Armed men ambushed and killed pro-Taliban Sunni cleric and chief of Banori Town mosque, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, in Karachi. His son, nephew and driver suffered wounds.
July 24, 2004: An employee of a local seminary, Jamiatul Rasheed, was killed and seven people, including four teachers, were injured in a bomb attack in the Gulshan-e-Maimar area of Karachi.
August 8, 2004: At least 10 people, including a three-year-old boy, were killed and 50 others injured in two bomb explosions near the Jamia Banoria, SITE Town.
October 6, 2004: Two police personnel were killed and a civilian injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen on a security post outside a Shiite mosque in Karachi.
October 9, 2004: Two Sunni clerics, Mufti Mohammad Jamil, a close aide of the late Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, and Maulana Nazeer Ahmed Taunsvi, were shot dead on Jehangir Road in Karachi.
November 16, 2004: Asim Ghafoor alias Qasim Sukkurwala, affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), was shot dead in an exchange of fire with police personnel in the Saeedabad area of Karachi.
April 6, 2005: Maulana Mohammed Amin Qadri, Sunni Tahrik leader and a government schoolteacher, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Pirabad area of Karachi.
June 23, 2005: Mufti Atiq ur Rahman, a cleric at the Jamia Banoria SITE Town was shot dead and his son and a man accompanying them were wounded in an attack near the Sindh Secretariat.
July 9, 2005: Unidentified men abducted and later shot dead Maulana Shamsuddin, a cleric in the Orangi Town area of Karachi.
July 17, 2005: A cleric, Maulana Abdullah Ahmed Madni, was killed and his father, Mufti Muhammad Ahmed Madni, injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in the Buffer Zone area of Karachi.
March 2, 2006: A US diplomat, identified as David Fyfe, his Pakistani driver and a Rangers official were killed and 54 persons injured in a suicide car bombing near the US consulate in Karachi. This was one day before US President George W Bush reached Pakistan.
April 6, 2006: Allama Hassan Turabi escaped unhurt while four people, including his son and a guard, suffered injuries in a bomb blast.
April 11, 2006: At least 60 people, including the top hierarchy of the Sunni Tehrik and other prominent religious personalities, were killed and over a 100 were injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack at Nishtar Park.
July 13, 2006: A suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the home of prominent Shiite cleric Allama Hassan Turabi, killing him and one of his relatives
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