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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KARACHI 000042 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PTER SOCI PK
SUBJECT: BALOCHISTAN - SHI'A HAZARA PARTY LEADER SLAIN 
 
REF: KARACHI 26 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN FAKAN, REASONS 1.4 
(b) AND (d). 
 
 Summary: 
-------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Sunni extremists purportedly from the 
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorist organization claimed credit for 
killing the Chair of the Hazara Democratic Party in Quetta on 
January 26.  This marks the third prominent assassination of 
members of the minority Shi'a community in January, the 
latest in what Hazara community leaders claim is an upsurge 
in sectarian violence in the city.  Baloch nationalists and 
Hazara leaders have accused security forces and the GOP of 
providing lax protection and even abetting the killers. 
Police officials deny this and point out that they have also 
been targeted and that sectarian violence has increased since 
the escape of two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leaders from jail in 2008. 
 
Shi'a Political Party Leader Killed 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) On January 26, motorcycle borne gunmen assassinated 
Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) Chair Ghulam Hussain outside of 
his travel agency on Dr. Bano Road in Quetta.  The attack 
comes after a January 14 killing of four Hazara police 
officers and the wounding of three others in Quetta (reftel) 
by unknown assailants. 
 
Extremist Group Claims Credit 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) As in the January 14 attack, a self-described 
representative of the banned religious extremist 
organization, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, called the Quetta Press Club 
to claim responsibility.  (Note:  Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, 
designated a terrorist organization by both the USG and the 
GOP, has been linked to a number of terrorist attacks in 
Pakistan, including the 1997 killing of four American oil 
workers in Karachi, the 2002 murder of Daniel Pearl, the 2002 
killing of 11 French workers, and the 2002 International 
Church bombing in Islamabad.  End comment.) 
 
Riots, Protests Follow Assassination 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (C) Ejaz Ahmed, a Quetta journalist, told Post that 
hundreds of protestors took to the streets of downtown Quetta 
after the killing, effectively shutting down businesses 
there.  They burned a bank building and several automobiles 
and motorcycles before police firing teargas dispersed the 
mob.  Frontier Corps troops later took charge of security in 
the city, which was relatively calm on January 27.  However, 
many shops in the Hazara section remained shuttered to 
protest the killing. 
 
Accusations Fly 
--------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) HDP General Secretary Abdul Khaliq blamed the GOP for 
failing to provide adequate security.  He emphasized that HDP 
Chair Hussain had been killed by religious extremists and 
accused security officials of supporting the attack. 
Balochistan National Party (BNP) Secretary General Habib 
Jalib went further and claimed the GOP had abetted the 
extremists in an attempt to destabilize the provincial 
government with an end goal of promoting Taliban rule and 
undermining the Baloch nationalist movement.  (Comment: 
Baloch political leaders routinely accuse GOP officials of 
conspiring with religious extremists, often without evidence. 
 End comment.) 
 
¶6.  (C) Quetta Superintendent of Police Naseebullah Kakar 
countered that police officials have also been targeted by 
the extremists.  He noted that sectarian violence had 
increased since the escape from the Quetta Anti-Terrorist 
Force jail by two prominent Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leaders, Usman 
Saifullah and Shafiqur Rehman, in January 2008. 
 
KARACHI 00000042  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  (C) Razq Wajeek, General Secretary of Balochistan 
Anjuman-e-Tajiran (a Hazara business association), told Post 
that terrorist leader Saifullah routinely sends signed 
threats to targeted Hazaras.  Wajeek said killings of Hazaras 
over the past year, 25 by his estimate, have escalated since 
the end of Ramadan. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  The Hazaras have roots in Afghanistan and make up 
around 170,000 of Balochistan's estimated 6.7 million 
inhabitants.  They have established a reputation as a 
relatively educated and affluent minority in Quetta.  Their 
distinctive features differentiate them from the local 
population making them easy targets. 
 
¶9.  (C) This marks the third prominent killing of Hazaras in 
January (reftel).  Sunni militants, who regard the Shi'a as 
heretics, have clashed violently with them in the past.  The 
recent killings could be indicative of an increase in Sunni 
militant activity in Balochistan (Shi'as are often the first 
group targeted by Sunni extremists) aimed at fomenting 
sectarian strife, or they could have a totally unrelated 
origin.  As in the case of the attack against Hazara police 
officers described in reftel, this assassination was a 
particularly bold and appears to be a direct challenge to 
civil authority in the province's capital city.  If sectarian 
violence continues to escalate, it could morph into violent 
conflict between the two religious sects. 
FAKAN