Lashkar-e-Jhangvi behind 80% of terrorist attacks in Pakistan

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik says the anti-Shia terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has been involved in 80 percent of terrorist incidents in the country. He made the remarks at a press conference in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday, the Pakistani television network Dawn News reported. Malik criticized the local government of the country’s largest province, Punjab, for not taking appropriate action against the outlawed group. He stated that all information regarding the LeJ was given to the Punjab government and that it should explain why it has not taken any action against the terrorist group. On February 16, a bomb attack targeting Shia Muslims in the main bazaar of the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta killed at least 90 people, including women and children, and injured more 200 others. According to the police, most of the victims were Hazara Shias. On January 10, a twin bomb attack at a crowded billiard hall killed more than 90 people, mostly Shia Muslims, in Quetta, which is the capital of Balochistan province. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the two bombings in Quetta. Following the terrorist incidents in Quetta, massive demonstrations were held across the country to denounce the violence against Shia Muslims. The demonstrators shouted slogans against the government and criticized Pakistan’s security forces for failing to provide security to the country’s Shia Muslims. They also denounced the Saudi Arabian policy of funding extremist groups that commit acts of violence against Muslims in Pakistan. In addition, the protesters called on the government to take immediate action against the forces involved in the sectarian killings.