About 20 men dressed as Pakistani soldiers boarded a bus bound for a Muslim festival, singled out 19 Shi’ites and shot them. But the shooters weren’t soldiers. They were a hit squad linked to the Sunni Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, or LeJ. Reuters has found that LeJ is gathering strength. The group aims to trigger sectarian violence that would pave the way for a Sunni theocracy in Pakistan. The risks are heightened by Pakistan’s long-standing role as a battlefield in a proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran. Pakistan’s failure to eradicate groups like LeJ is one reason why it is often called a failed state that scares investors away.
To access the full story on Thomson Reuters Eikon, use this ID: nL3E8LO04E. Or, do a keyword search on Thomson One.
