"At least 10 Shiite pilgrims were killed and dozens wounded in attacks targeting them in Iraq on Tuesday evening, officials said.
In western Baghdad's Ghazaliya neighborhood a roadside bomb detonated near a gathering of pilgrims killing at least 10 and wounding 21 others, an Interior Ministry official said.
To the north of Baghdad, in Diyala province, at least 14 people were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near a procession of Shiite pilgrims in Khalis, according to the town's mayor.
This was the third attack in as many days in the ethnically mixed Diyala province targeting Shiite pilgrims. On Sunday and Monday two suicide attacks in the province left at least five people killed and nearly two dozen wounded.
Attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims have spiked in recent days as hundreds of thousands of worshipers have been making their way to the holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq and other Shiite shrines."
6 comments :
A group with ties to Al Qaida blew up worshippors near a mosque in Iran today. 39 killed, including women and children. Maybe Iran will rethink its support for Al Qaida.
The attack was claimed by Baluchi rebels...not Sunni Arabs. Baluchs are fighting against Pakistan too.
"The Baluchis are tribal pastoralists inhabiting the remote and inhospitable mountain and desert region of the border areas of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The majority are found in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, with smaller numbers in Iran and Afghanistan. There are significant numbers of Baluchis who live outside their traditional homelands in the three countries and also in the Gulf States. The Baluchis are not a homogenous group and are divided between the Sulemani or Eastern Baluchis in Iran, the Makrani or Western Baluchis in Pakistan and south-western Afghanistan, and the Brahuis of the central Kalat plateau of Pakistani Baluchistan, who speak the Brahui language which is not related to Baluchi, but which often has a heavy Baluchi admixture.
Baluchis are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school. They share elements of a cultural and linguistic heritage despite variations in lifestyle and environment. Originally a warrior people, they are divided into tribes, clans and sub-clans which fall under the authority of powerful chiefs, but no leader has been able to create a lasting political framework encompassing all of Baluchistan. Cultivable land is very limited, and most families live by combining subsistence farming with semi-nomadic pastoralism."
Its true that most Baluchis are Sunnis, but it seems that the rebel movements are more focused on their ethnicity than their religion. They are waging an insurgency against Pakistan -- which is Sunni -- in addition to their activities in Iran.
Most Kurds are Sunni as well, but I wouldn't classify the PKK as Sunni extremists. At least in my opinion.
Jundallah was formed in 2003 and is believed to have about 1000 members. Its base of operations is in Pakistan's Baluchestan province. Jundallah is led by Albolmalek Rigi, a Sunni fundamentalist. Jundallah is a Sunni Salafi group, the most extreme sect of Islam, of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda variety, and has links to both groups. Jundallah has been involved in drug trafficking as well.
http://tinyurl.com/yjcxkaq
Abdulmalik Rigi was hanged by Iran. Some allege he was in bed with the U.S., as a means of destabilizing the regime in Tehran
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