A number of Shia leaders and clerics in the Parachinar region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan accused the Taliban movement in the country of fomenting conflict and fueling sectarianism in the region to create division between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
This region bordering Afghanistan, which is under the control of the gangs of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakista, has experienced acts of sectarianism between Shias and Sunnis
“The Shia clerics and leaders in the province have blamed the Taliban, which is fueling the war between the Shia and Sunni communities in order to gain more control over the region and take away its wealth,” the Hindu Post newspaper reported.
“Due to the current crisis and the push of the terrorist movement towards sectarian fighting, this has led to the closure of the main road linking the provincial capital Peshawar, in addition to a shortage of food, medicine and fuel in the region,” it added.
“The residents of Parchinar condemned the actions of Shahbaz Sharif’s government for not preventing terrorists, who broke the border fence and entered their country to spread terror, destabilize security and fan flames of sectarianism,” the newspaper further said.
“The terrorists, affiliated with the Pakistan Taliban and with the help of the government, are trying to create a conflict between the Shia and Sunni communities in order to gain control of the area to be a safe haven for them,”a Shia leader named Shabbir Sajid was quoted as saying.
“What is happening today in the region is not a sectarian conflict, as some are trying to explain, but a crisis created by the Taliban Pakistan in cooperation with the anti-Shia group Lashkar-e-Taiba, with the aim of controlling their homes and property,” he added.
Sajid called on the government to “urgently intervene and send military forces to secure the area and expel the terrorists.”
