From Karbala to Karachi

Scores of Shiites have become victims of the Sunni extremism in the past few days.  The Shiites once again became victims of the Sunni extremism.  At least 33 had been killed in two bomb attacks on Shiites in Karachi.  While in Karbala, Iraq, two suicide bombers killed 40 Shiites while injuring another 140.

The General speaks

Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaque Pervez Kiyani revealed that 2,273 soldiers had died fighting terrorism in Pakistan while another 6,512 soldiers have been injured while fighting the insurgents.  He further revealed that the deceased soldiers included 73 intelligence officers who died in Pakistan and another 11 intelligence officers died in Afghanistan.

General Kiyani compared the losses suffered by the Pakistan’s Armed with those of NATO’s in Afghanistan that claimed 1,582 lives in the past 8 years. He also revealed senior military officers including a 3-star general, two 2-star generals, and five brigadier generals.

The sectarian war in Iraq continues

While claiming to fight against Americans, the Iraqi Sunni extremists have been busy slaughtering the Shiite civilians. In another attack on Shiites, a female suicide bomber killed 41 pilgrims in East Baghdad on their way to Karbala.

Conservatives in the Sunni Arab states and the rest of the Muslim countries have been arguing in favour of the Sunni militant resistance to the presence of foreign armed forces in Iraq. However, mainstream Sunnis are uncomfortably silent at the sustained pace of murderous attacks against the Shiites in Iraq. This has to change fast.

Without the resistance from the mainstream Sunnis, the sectarian violence perpetrated by the Sunni extremists, who have now become indistinguishable from the Al-Qaeda brand, will continue unabated, wrecking havoc in Muslim societies.