Jaish-e-Islam Owns Mastung Blast; Issues Fresh Warnings to Govt and Video-Shop Owners

The Baloch Hal

The Jaish-e-Islam, a hitherto unknown extremist group, has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bomb blast on Shia pilgrims in Balochistan’s Mastung district and has also issued fresh warnings to the government and video-shop owners of future attacks. Ghazi Haq Nawaz, a spokesman of the Jaish-e-Islam, told reporters in Quetta via telephone that “our Mujahideen” have carried out the attack in Mastung against the killing of religious scholars belonging to the Ahle-Sunna. The organization, he claimed, had previously warned the government that it would not tolerate the use of Balochistan’s land for kufr (rejection of Islam) —referring to the Shia belief and practices. The government’s wish to establish peace in Balochistan and end the killing of Shias will not materialize until the government ensures the protection of the honor of Prophet Muhammad, he said. “We warn the district administration of Mastung that if they are Sunnis then they should stay away from [protecting] the Shias. Otherwise, we will also target the members of the district administration,” he warned. The Jaish-e-Islam spokesman also asked video-shop owners in Quetta to publicly burn the C.Ds available in their stores which are blasphemous of Islam, the Prophet of Islam and his companions. “We appeal to the video-shop owners to voluntarily burn in front of the media all such anti-Islam C.Ds., including the one called The Message. If anti-Islam C.Ds are recovered from their stores despite our warning, we will target the video shops too.”