ISLAMABAD, 11 February 2005 — Security forces have been put on high alert on the eve of Ashura amid fears that recent sectarian violence could spark a bloody new cycle of revenge, officials said yesterday.
Last year’s Ashura was one of the most violent ever and authorities are on alert after a spate of bloodshed between the two sects in the northern towns of Gilgit and Skardu in January, which left 17 people dead.
“Because of recent sectarian incidents in some parts of the country we have instructed the provinces to be extra-vigilant. Security forces have been put on high alert to ward off any threat,” Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Javed Cheema told AFP.
Police commandos and plainclothes agents have been deployed in all major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi to guard sensitive sites, another Interior Ministry official said.
Violence between the rival sects has claimed more than 2,000 lives since the 1980s.
The government this week held a special briefing on the likelihood of violence during Muharram. The meeting was attended by the provincial police chiefs, Home Ministry officials. Local Sunni-Shiite peace committees have also been set up to maintain peace and harmony.
Pakistan’s mountainous Northern Areas have stepped up security at 836 Shiite mosques after the assassination of a Shiite leader in Gilgit provoked mass riots. A curfew on Gilgit and Skardu was lifted only recently.
Meanwhile, protesters in Karachi called on the United States yesterday to change the proposed site of its new consulate, which is being moved after a series of attacks.
Around 100 demonstrators waved banners and placards saying the American mission was a potential terrorist target and would be too near local schools and houses in its new location.
“It may be more secure for them but we will become more insecure. Plus, the site they have proposed is meant to be a park,” said one protestor who refused to give her name.
US officials have wanted to move the consulate from its city center location since a June 14, 2002, suicide bombing there killed 12 Pakistanis. The new building would be in the exclusive seaside suburb of Clifton.
“We have been looking for a new site and have now proposed one where a new building can be constructed to meet modern security standards,” US Consul General Douglas Rohn said.
