Pakistani Shia cleric shot dead in Islamabad

By Hasan Abdullah,

29 Nov 2014 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/pakistani-shia-cleric/1499696.html 

The killing of Allama Nawaz Irfani shocked many and raised questions about the growing penetration of self-proclaimed jihadi groups in a city that is still considered to be the most secure in the country.

Pakistani soldiers search a house during a military operation against Taliban militants in North Waziristan. (Photo: AFP)

ISLAMABAD: The Haqqani Network achieved international notoriety using asymmetric warfare to fight against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan.

The group operates on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and US officials believe it is based in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal frontier.

A cleric, who accused the Pakistani military of resettling members of the Haqqani network before launching its military operation in North Waziristan, has been shot dead in Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

The killing of Allama Nawaz Irfani shocked many and raised questions about the growing penetration of self-proclaimed jihadi groups in a city that is still considered to be the most secure in the country.

Mr Irfani, in his 40s, had been a prominent Shia cleric from the Kurram Agency, a tribal region located right next to North Waziristan.

He had held a series of protests in the Kurram Agency a few months ago, alleging that the Pakistani military had relocated the Haqqani Network, an arm of the Afghan Taliban much feared in Pakistan, to safer grounds before launching its anti-militant offensive in North Waziristan.

He had also claimed that there had been an influx of militants into his tribal area and that the Taliban and other militant fighter groups had been able to leave North Waziristan before the launch of the military operation.

So far no one has claimed responsibility for Mr Irfani's assassination and police officials said they were investigating the case. Some Shia clerics have accused the military of the killing, a charge the military denies.

Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant-general and security analyst, said: "No, I don't think so. I think this pattern has been followed for some time - that the Shia clerics have been targeted by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and I think its a similar thing."

Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, or MWM for short, is a powerful umbrella organisation of Shia Muslims in Pakistan. It has given the government a 12-hour deadline to find and arrest the killers of the cleric, threatening severe consequences if the government fails to meet their deadline.

MWM's Deputy Secretary General, Allama Asghar Askari, said: "We caused the government in Baluchistan to fall after the attacks on the Hazara community. The Raisani government ended. After that the new government made many promises but they were never fulfilled. We are in the process of consultation and there is a need to take a major step."

Pakistan is operating on dangerous sectarian faultlines. And the situation in the Middle East has added anxiety to the tense climate in Pakistan. The embattled government of Nawaz Sharif, which is bracing itself for a major political protest from the opposition on Nov 30, is confronted with yet another threat.