Unidentified gunmen killed 23 Shi'ite Muslims and wounded of 35 others on 11 January,
1997 in the Pakistan city of Lahore. The killings have been linked to religiously
motivated violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in Pakistan over the past few years.
The gunmen opened fire on participants of a religious gathering at a graveyard in Lahore.
Witnesses say three men armed with automatic weapons arrived in a jeep, as members of the
minority muslim Shi'ite community were gathered for a religious ceremony. While one kept
guard at the gate, the other two went into the graveyard and opened fire at point-blank
range on people listening to a sermon. The gunmen escaped after the attack.
Angry Shi'ite youths gathered at the scene after the attack and blocked off roads, hurling
stones and bottles, smashing windows, and burning cars. A heavy police contingent
dispersed the rioters with tear gas after they tried to burn a bank building.
The victims of the shooting, including a woman and a child, were gunned down in what the
police are describing as a religiously motivated terrorist attack. No group has
taken responsibility for the massacre, but religious leaders of the Shi'ite community have
placed the blame on Sunni Muslim militants, and reportedly warned of possible retaliation.
The head of the radical Shi'ite Tehrik-e-Jafria, Sajid Ali Naqvi, has said that the
massacre was carried out by members of Sipah-e-Sahaba, a militant Sunni Muslim
organization. The Sunni group has been previously linked to violence against members
of the country's Shi'ite minority. However a spokesman for the Sipah-e-Sahaba denied
involvement in Sunday's attack and condemned it.
Shi'ites make up about 15 percent of Pakistan's population, which is mainly Sunni
Muslim. Violence between militant groups from both sects last year claimed more than
two hundred lives in Pakistan's Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital. Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif cited the religious violence as the rationale for giving police
sweeping new powers last year to battle terrorism. However so far not many arrests
have been made in connection with the sectarian violence.
Following the bloodbath, police have cordoned off the area around the graveyard in Lahore
and are on alert for possible retaliatory strikes. The chief minister of Punjab province
has ordered a high-level inquiry into the attack, calling it an inhuman and brutal act.
Muslim brothers are requested to recite Sura-e-fateha for all the deceased and may Allah
(SWT) rest their souls in eternal peace.