Pakistan hunts down militants
Killings come after ISIL claims attack that left 88 dead
PAKISTAN // State security forces killed more than 100 suspected militants yesterday, a day after ISIL claimed a suicide bombing that killed more than 88 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in the latest of a series of attacks across the country.
The bombing at the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in southern Sindh province was Pakistan’s deadliest attack in two years.
With authorities facing angry criticism for failing to tighten security before the bomber struck, analysts said that the wave of violence pointed to a major escalation in attempts to destabilise the region.
“This is a virtual declaration of war against the state of Pakistan,” said Imtiaz Gul, head of the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.
The bombings over five days hit all four of Pakistan’s provinces and two major cities, killing nearly 100 people.
A series of military operations against insurgent groups operating in Pakistan had raised hopes that their leaders were weakened but that hope has since been shattered by the attacks.
The white marble floor of the shrine was still marked by blood yesterday. Abandoned shoes and slippers lay piled in the courtyard.
Outside, protesters shouted slogans at police, who they said had failed to protect the shrine.
One worshipper said that local Sufis had asked for better secu- rity after a separate bombing this week had killed 13 people in Lahore, but said no one turned up to protect the place.
“The Taliban had warned that they would attack the place but authorities didn’t take it seriously,” said Anwer Ali, 25.
The attacks raised questions over ISIL’s clout in the nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people.
In the past two years, ISIL has worked to build Khorasan province, encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan, as part of their so-called caliphate.
Most of the other recent attacks have been claimed by Pakistani Taliban factions, which are waging their own fight against the Pakistani government but whose ranks have also liaised and switched to ISIL. That led observers to question whether the bloodshed points to a new threat or simply to the same groups operating under a different name.
ISIL said it was behind another shrine attack in south-west Baluchistan province that killed at least 52 people in November.
The month before, it said it carried out an assault on a po- lice training college, killing 59.
Yesterday, security forces in Sindh said they killed 18 suspected militants. On the same day, army and police raids in north- west Peshawar and Bannu killed seven militants and another six were killed in shelling on the border with Afghanistan, according to police and intelligence officials.
The shrine attack heightened tensions with Afghanistan after Pakistani officials said some militant leaders took shelter across the border.
The accusation echoed similar criticism from Kabul aimed at Islamabad.
Yesterday, border crossings were closed and Afghan diplomats were summoned to military headquarters in Islamabad and given a list of 76 terrorists that Pakistan demanded be captured and handed over, the army said. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani yesterday condemned the shrine attack on Twitter, calling ISIL a common enemy of the two countries.
‘ This is a declaration of war against Pakistan Imtiaz Gul Head of Islamabad Centre for Research and Security Studies