MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) – Anti-terrorism police and the country’s intelligence agency raided the shelters of a banned Shiite militant group in the eastern province of Punjab and arrested seven suspects allegedly carrying leaders of rival Sunni Muslims. groups wanted to attack, a spokesman said Thursday.
In a statement, the Punjab counter-terrorism department said the suspects of the banned Sipah-e-Mohammad group had been arrested in the past 24 hours in three separate raids from the cities of Sargodha, Khusab and Sahiwal.
Officers are said to have seized bomb-making materials and guns that would be used in sectarian attacks by the arrested men. Officials said the suspects were led by militant leader Mehmood Iqbal, who is hiding in a neighboring country. Authorities did not name the country, but officials had previously blamed Iran for its support for Shiite militants.
Pakistani security forces often carry out such arrests, but the latest took place just after Sunni militants killed 11 Shiite coal miners they had abducted from southwestern Baluchistan.
On Wednesday over the deaths of coal miners On Sunday, hundreds of Shiite minorities from the Hazara community have since rallied in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
The killed coal miners were also from the Hazara community, which was repeatedly targeted by Sunni militants, including an Islamic State subsidiary that claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of the miners, about 48 kilometers east of Quetta.
According to Islamic tradition, funerals take place as soon as possible after death. But Shiites refused to bury the dead. They also said they would not hold funerals until the authorities arrested the killers.
On Thursday, opposition leaders, including Bilawal Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan People’s Party, and Maryam Nawaz, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League party, traveled to Quetta, demanding that the Shiites bury the miners. But the mourners refused, saying they would only do so if Prime Minister Imran Khan visited them to ensure their protection. Khan received criticism from the country’s opposition, calling him a ‘numb person’ because he did not visit Quetta quickly because he sympathized with the Shiites who lost their loved ones in Sunday’s violence.
Upset about the killings, the Shiites continued their protest for the straight fifth day in Quetta.
Shiites claim that the Sipah-e-Sahaba group, which has been banned by Sunnis, is a violent act that has killed numerous Shiite Muslims in Pakistan over the past few years. Islamic State and other Sunni extremist groups view Shiites as apostates and regularly target them in deadly attacks.