A suicide bombing at a Shi'ite demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians in the western Pakistani city of Quetta (Balochistan [2] province) on Sept. 3 left at least 65 people dead. That same day, a suicide attack during Friday evening prayers at an Ahmadiyya [3] mosque in the town of Mardan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province) killed at least two people. Local Ahmadi spokesman Saleemudin faulted authorities for not taking adequate security measures at the mosque given recent deadly attacks [4] on the Ahmadiyya elsewhere in Pakistan. But he added that the Ahmadiyya would remain peaceful and not take the law in their own hands. (WP [5], Kashmir Observer [6], Pakistan Daily Times [7], Sept. 4)
Note that in April of this year, the North West Frontier Province—a name inherited from the British—was officially changed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in an open bid to appease Pashtun ethno-nationalist sentiment (and presumably undercut the jihadis). (Dawn [8], April 1)
See our last post on Pakistan and the struggle within Islam [9].
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