Pakistanis demand trial of extremist leader

QUETTA: Pakistani leaders yesterday demanded that the head of a banned militant group be put on trial, a day after he was arrested following deadly sectarian attacks in the city of Quetta.
Malik Ishaq, the leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), was held on Friday after two recent bombings in the southwestern city targeting the Shiite Hazara minority killed more than 180 people, sparking nationwide protests.
The outlawed militant group, linked to both Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban, claimed responsibility for both attacks.
“We have always been demanding arrest of all those involved in any act of sectarian violence, irrespective of their party affiliation,” said Abdul Khaliq Hazara, leader of the Hazara Democratic Party.
“Ishaq must be brought to justice and punished for involvement in violence,” he added.
Ishaq, who has been arrested before, was released by a court on bail in July 2011, even though he has been implicated in dozens of murders.
He was detained briefly in 2012 for inciting sectarian hatred and has also been accused of masterminding the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, which wounded several players and killed eight Pakistanis. His latest arrest — which came a day after the Pakistani army denied any links to LJ — should not be an “eye wash,” said Sajid Naqvi, another Shiite party leader.
“We demand his trial and the authorities should provide protection to witnesses who would like to appear in the court,” he said.
The Feb. 16 bomb attack in Quetta killed 89 people, while 92 people were killed in an attack at a Hazara snooker hall on January 10.
Protesters poured onto the streets following the latest bombing and shut down parts of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, demanding better protection for Shiites and lashing out at the government for failing to catch the perpetrators.
Officials said earlier this week that security forces had killed four men and detained more than 170 alleged suspects.
LJ emerged as a spin-off from mujahideen groups, which were funded by the US Central Intelligence Agency and backed by the Pakistani intelligence services during the 1980s war against Soviet troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
Police-militants clash
In Peshawar, militants attacked a police van in Pakistan’s northwest yesterday, killing a police official and wounding two others, authorities said.
A gun battle erupted after the assault in which two militants were also killed, local police chief Mohammad Hussain said.
The incident took place in the town of Rashakai, 40 km east of Peshawar, the main city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
The area is close to the semi-autonomous tribal region where the Pakistani military has launched a series of operations against Taleban and Al-Qaeda linked militants. The assailants were on two motorbikes, Hussain said. “They first lobbed a grenade and then opened fire on a police van parked near the road.” “Police retaliated, killing two militants while others managed to flee,” he said. Another police official Nasir Khan confirmed the casualties. “We have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the fleeing militants,” he added.
There was no claim of responsibility.
Pakistan suffers from near daily bomb and shooting attacks blamed on Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants. According to Islamabad, more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks.

17 killed in bus crash
Pakistani officials say a bus carrying a wedding party has veered off a narrow road and plunged into a canal in the country’s northwest, killing at least 17.
Police officer Asif Sharif said yesterday 11 people were still missing since Friday’s accident, near the city of Peshawar.
The dead included nine women and five children.
Sharif says all the victims were relatives of the bride, and were on way to the nearby city of Mardan when the bus ran off a road made slippery from rain.
He says rescuers were still trying to recover the bodies of 11 missing people.
Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records for traffic accidents. Roads and vehicles in the country are poorly maintained, and there is little respect for traffic rules.