The leader of a banned militant group in Pakistan was shot dead on Monday in an apparent sectarian attack, police and party officials said. Ali Sher Haideri, chief of the Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, was returning home in Khairpur, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of the southern city of Karachi, after a public gathering when gunmen ambushed his car, police said. "He was killed along with one of his companions who was driving the car, while one of the six attackers was also killed when his guards returned fire," Pir Muhammad Shah, chief of police in Khairpur, told Reuters by telephone.Militancy and unrest
Millat-e-Islamia, or Nation of Islam, was formed in 2002 by members of the notorious Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni Muslim organization that was for years involved in tit-for-tat killings with Shiite militants. The government banned the SSP along with several other militant groups in 2002 after joining the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The Millat-e-Islamia was officially banned in 2003 though it has continued to operate.
Millat-e-Islamia was a pretty transparent false nose and moustache operation, so obvious in fact that Perv went ahead and banned it.
Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, president of the party, blamed Shiites for Haideri's killing. "The attackers were none other than Shiites," Ludhianvi told Reuters.
Shiites account for about 20 percent of Pakistan's population. Ordinary members of the sects generally live in harmony despite the long history of violence between militants.
| Except for periodic Sunni pogroms, of course, when ordinary paid rioters run amok through Shiite (or another targetted minority) neighborhoods killing, burning and pillaging. Rage Boy needs to keep busy between photo ops. |
| "Fill 'er up! No, I don't need the oil checked." |
Pakistan's military claims to have cleared northwest Swat district of Taliban fighters after launching a push in late April to dislodge extremists bent of imposing a harsh brand of Islamic law in the verdant valley. Sporadic outbreaks of fighting continue, but the government has urged the 1.9 million civilians uprooted by the conflict to return home.