Persecution of Hazaras in Quetta
They are generally considered to have arisen from attempts by the then national leader, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, to legitimise his military dictatorship and from the influx of weapons into the country following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Although the perpetrators often do not claim responsibility for the attacks, expert analysis suggests that in recent times it is the Sunnis who are dominating the aggression and that they are motivated by the ideology of Al-Qaeda.
[6] It is widely assumed that the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Sunni Muslim extremist militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Sipah-e-Sahaba, is behind the attacks on the Hazara community in the region.
[8][9] Hazaras in Pakistan face isolation due to their ethnic and religious background, enduring daily targeted assassinations and suicide bombings orchestrated by terrorist networks.
[20] Senior politicians Mahmood Khan Achakzai, and Sardar Akhtar Mengal condemned the killings and demanded that the security establishment take stern action against those involved in terrorism and acts of violence against civilians.
[23][24][25][26][27] February 9: Eight passenger were shot dead and five severely wounded when they were traveling in a van en route from Hazara Town to Alamdar Road.
[31] March 2: At least 60 people were killed and more than 100 critically injured when a religious procession of the Shia Muslims was attacked with extensive open-firing which followed an explosion by rival Sunni extremists at Liaquat Bazaar in Quetta on Tenth of Muharram.
The attack took place after the body of Ashraf Zaidi, a Shia bank manager, shot dead earlier in the day by extremists, was brought to the hospital.
[37] May 6: Eight died and fifteen were wounded in the early morning when armed men fired rockets at Hazara children playing outside in an open field.
[1][38] June 16: Abrar Hussain, the Pakistani Olympian boxer and Chairman Balochistan Sports Board, was assassinated near Ayub National Stadium in Quetta.
[41] September 20: A bus carrying pilgrims to Taftan was stopped in Mastung near Quetta, after identifying Hazara passengers they were massacred leaving 26 dead.
[51][52] May 15: Two brothers were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them while they were standing in the line outside Passport issuing office on Joint road, Quetta.
[53] June 28: 15 people were killed and 45 others injured, when a suicide attack occurred on a bus in Quetta which had just returned from Iran carrying 60 pilgrims including scores of women and children belonging to the Hazara community.
[55] 10th Jan 2013: Several bombings took place in the southwestern Pakistani in the city of Quetta, where four separate explosions a few minutes apart in the evening ripped through a snooker hall Alamdar Road in a neighborhood dominated by ethnic Hazara Shiites, killing at least 115 people in total and wounding more than 270.
[57][58] 16th Feb 2013: A big bomb blast at Kirani Road near Hazara Town of Quetta killed 73 and wounded at least 180 people from Shia community.
