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Behind Mastung attack
  • Mastung.jpg
    Mastung.jpg
The religious leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri was leaving a gathering in the Mastung district when his convoy came under attack killing 27 and wounded 42 others. The Balochistan government spokesman Anwar ul Haq Kakar confirmed the death of people in the gathering.The attack is claimed by the Islamic State in their statement through Emaq, their mouthpiece for claiming the IS attacks across the globe.
While talking to a press conference in Quetta Maulana Faiz Muhammad the Jamiat e Ulema Islam Pakistan Balochistan chapter head announced agitation across the province. He confirmed that the Pakistan Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri had survived while the JUIF cadres and activists lost their lives. The JUIF chief Maulana Fazl Ur Rehman’s earlier planned visit to Balochistan are postponed after the attack.
The Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri condemned the attack and expressed sorry over the loss of innocent people in the attack. And ordered government officials, Police and executives to bring out the report about the attack on Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri’s convoy. Janan Agha another official of the JUIF Balochistan confirmed that the Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri had got wounded and shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta.
After the deadly attack on JUIF a powerful agitation is not seen throughout Balochistan and Pakistan. As the political party would be in fear that it would cause harm to the public opinion regarding their political struggle and at the same time would lead to a confrontation with the unknown forces.  Balochistan's Mastung has remained the hot bed of sectarian attacks on the Shiite pilgrims in the past and now the attack comes against the religious Democratic Party’s leader. Earlier the IS had claimed several attacks across Pakistan, including the one on lawyers in Quetta in 2016 that killed more than 70 lawyers.
The Lashkar e Jhangavi used to claim the attacks on the Shiite pilgrims at Mastung while they would be on their way to Iran, Syria and Iraq. Both Quetta and Mastung became the deadliest town for the Shiite minority killing in those attacks. Now as Pakistan changed its policies and started the arrest of militant wings across the country the sectarian groups are believed would have joined their hands with the alternate of the then Al-Qaeda. 
Many experts believe that it would be a tactic to push JUIF to distance herself from the democratic political process and join hands with the militants for their interpreted `Sharia Law` as is the agenda of the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan. But the response from JUIF has always remained very positive while pursuing their religious political manifesto through the democratic mechanism.  On the other hand it is believed that these religious militant groups can be proxies of different spy agencies to counter their long term rivals. And some political parties still believe that these `terrorist` groups are not targeted by the state's law enforcing agencies because these groups can be used as non-state actors against the democratic masses and for interference in neighboring countries, Afghanistan, Iran and India. 
JUIF remained the full supporter of the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and had good ties with the then emir of the faithful “Mullah Muhammad Omer” who died in Pakistan. Several of the JUIF run madrassahs are even now providing gunpowder to the Afghan war though the JUIF leadership is not endorsing militancy in the region including Afghanistan. Many of the Tehreek e Taliban commanders had direct and indirect links to the JUIF madrassahs that are being used against the Afghan and International Security Forces in Afghanistan.
Malik Achakzai
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