海角大神

鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

A massive bombing in a Shiite neighborhood of Karachi claimed two more lives today when gunmen opened fire as crowds returned from the funeral of some of those killed in yesterday's incident.

Pakistan's The News International reports that 聽when a bomb went off as Shiites left a local mosque yesterday. It was the latest in a slew of suspected Sunni militant attacks on Pakistani Shiites.

Most suspect that Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is behind this attack, although no one has claimed responsibility so far.听As 海角大神 reported last year, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi聽publicly declared that Pakistan's Hazara Shiites are "worthy of killing"聽because of their beliefs, which they consider heretic. 聽

Over the past year, the Shiite community has grown more vocal in protesting the lack of security for their community in Pakistan. The Associated Press reports that local Shiites聽, demanding better police protection.

Thousands of people thronged a main road in Karachi Monday for the funeral service. Many beat their chests and heads and chanted "Stop the brutal attacks!" They called on the government to take action against militant groups responsible for the attacks.

"Terrorists are killing us everywhere, but the state is nowhere to be seen," said Intizar Hussain, whose father died in the bombing.

Last year was one of the deadliest for Shiites in Pakistani history, with more than 400 Shiites killed across the country, according to Human Rights Watch. But 2013, with nearly 250 already killed only two months into the year, looks set to top it.听Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for the two other attacks with mass casualties this year, both in the southwestern city of Quetta, home to much of Pakistan's ethnic Hazara community.

After the first of the attacks in January, Hazara Shiite activists refused to bury their dead and instead blocked a road with 86 coffins. The protest captured nationwide attention in Pakistan, as the Monitor noted at the time:

The protests are also receiving support from beyond the elite who tweet and take up civil society causes. Populist politician聽Imran Khan聽also traveled to Quetta, addressed the families of the victims, and demanded action to be taken against聽Lashkar-e-Jhangvi 鈥撀爏omething that politicians in Pakistan are often scared of doing for fear of reprisal attacks or angering the military establishment that many say backs the group.

The fact that one of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's leaders gave a public address in Karachi immediately following the January attack buttressed the perception that Pakistan was not trying hard enough to protect minority Shiites. Subsequently, and is talking tougher against the group, with the country's colorful Interior Minister blaming the group for, a figure The New York Times said "may be an exaggeration."

The Times also expresses some skepticism about Pakistan's commitment to tackle the group, writing that "[a]lthough the army has carried out sweeping military operations against the Pakistani Taliban since 2009, it has avoided a full-frontal confrontation with the country鈥檚 sectarian groups. In some parts of the country, the military and conservative political parties have faced accusations of collusion with sectarian groups."

Those accusations of ties between state elements and聽Lashkar-e-Jhangvi聽have their roots in the history of聽the militant group. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is an offshoot of an earlier anti-Shiite organization,聽Sipah-e-Sahaba. A聽US Department of State cable released by WikiLeaks in 2011 state that the 聽"in a move to counter Shia Iran鈥檚 influence in Pakistan."聽

Although Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has carried on the anti-Shiite agenda, it also joined forces with jihadi groups including Al Qaeda to combat the US in South Asia after Sept. 11, 2001, according to the State Department cable. The Pakistani government officially banned the group in August 2001. However, bans of such groups have been unevenly enforced in Pakistan.听

The official ban hasn't dissuaded some regional leaders from suggesting that elements of the Pakistani state sometimes find the group useful, the Monitor reported last year:聽

Some [Hazara Shiite] leaders further allege聽that聽the government turns a blind聽eye to Sunni militants in the hopes of distracting ethnic Baloch from聽their long-simmering, secular nationalist fight.听

Pakistan's security聽establishment has traditionally viewed ethnic nationalism as a more聽present danger to the state than Islamic militants, which it has used聽as tools of foreign policy across the border in Afghanistan.听

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has carried out attacks in Afghanistan, including a December suicide attack in聽Kabul聽that killed 80 people. Today,聽Afghanistan's Attorney General Eshaq Aloko said that though Lashkar-e-Jhangvi planned the attack, 鈥渋t was masterminded by some spy agencies in our neighboring countries.鈥� His comments are seen as a 鈥渧eiled reference to Pakistan intelligence,鈥� according to Pakistan's聽Dawn聽newspaper.

All eyes are now on Pakistan's response to the latest carnage in Karachi as protests mount inside the country against the sectarian violence.听