Families of the 86 Shia Muslims who died in twin bombings targeting Quetta's predominantly Hazara neighborhood last week have started to bury their dead, calling off a sit-in after their demands were met.

But concerns about the safety of the minority sect will continue because of the recent history of sectarian violence. The last year was among the most violent in the country's history in terms of violence against Shias.

The following is a chronology of the major attacks on Shias in the country in 2012.

Jan 1: Askari Raza, leader of a Shia political organisation Pasban-e-Jaferia, was shot dead in a sectarian-motivated target killing in Karachi by two armed men riding a motorcycle. He was accompanied by a friend in his car, who was injured in the attack. The attackers were also said to be injured when two other men accompanying Raza fired in retaliation although they managed to escape safe.

Jan 7: Four people were killed in various sectarian target killing incidents in Gilgit.

Jan 25:Three lawyers belonging to the Shia sect were killed during a firing incident initiated by unknown gunmen near a city court in Karachi.

Jan 25:Three Hazara Muslims were killed by sectarian terrorists on Mecongi Road in Quetta. One of them was a police inspector and another was TV artist - Abid Hussain Nazish.

Feb 17: A suicide bombing in a bazaar in Parachinar targeting Shia Muslims killed 41 people. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility.

Feb 28:Militants ambushed a bus carrying Shia Muslims in Kohistan, killing all 18 people on board. The TTP claimed responsibility.

Mar 26: Two Hazara youth were killed when unidentified men on Sabzal Road (Quetta) fire at them. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) claimed responsibility.

Mar 29: A taxi carrying passengers from Hazara Town was sprayed with bullets that killed seven and injured six. Three women and some children were also among the casualties. Two Hazara boys under 16 were shot dead by the police as they tried to disperse angry protesters blocking traffic, raising the death toll to nine.

Apr 3: Two Hazara men were shot dead on Mekongi Road, Quetta. LeJ claimed responsibility.

Apr 9: Six Hazara Muslims were killed and three others were injured by gunmen on Prince Road, Quetta.

Apr 12: Assailants on a motorbike opened fire at a tea store on Shahrah-e-Iqbal, Quetta, killing a man instantly and injuring the owner of the store. A few minutes after, armed men attacked another shop belonging to the Hazara community on Archer Road, around 500 metres from Shahrah-e-Iqbal. As a result of indiscriminate firing, two people died on the spot.

Apr 14:Eight Hazara men were killed on their way to work when armed assailants opened fire on a taxi carrying them on Brewery Road, Quetta.

Apr 16: Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a tyre shop situated at Quarry Road, Quetta killing a Hazara business man, Salman Ali Hazara.

Apr 21: Two brothers were shot dead on Brewery Road, near Hazara Town, Quetta. FC soldiers arrested three suspects who belonged to the LeJ.

May 6: A Hazara man was killed by unknown gunmen in Mastung at Dasht area when he was working in his tyre shop.

May 14: Two brothers were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them while they were standing in line outside the passport office on Joint Road, Quetta.

Jun 18:Four Hazara students were killed and many injured by a bomb blast which hit a university bus in a suburb of Quetta.

Jun 28: Fifteen Hazaras were killed and 30 others were injured in a suicide attack on a bus carrying pilgrims returning from Iran. The suicide bomber was in a private car which hit the bus in the Hazar Ganji area of Quetta. LeJ claimed responsibility. Its spokesperson Abdu Bakar said the attack was carried out by Ziaur Rahman Farooqi and was in revenge for attacks on a madrassa and tablighi centre.

Jul 6:Eighteen Shia pilgrims who were travelling to Iran were killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on their vehicle in the town of Turbat, Balochistan.

Aug 16: Three people of the Hazara Shia community were killed in the city's Arbab Karam Khan Road area. They were going to Hazara Town in a motor-rickshaw when gunmen on a motorbike fired at them and fled. LeJ claimed responsibility.

Aug 16:Gunmen in Mansehra pulled 25 Shia Muslims out of a bus and shot them dead. TTP claimed responsibility.

Aug 27:Three people from the Hazara community were killed and three others injured when gunmen fire at a taxi in the city's Spiny Road area on Monday.

Aug 30:Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Shia Muslim judge along with his driver and police bodyguard in Quetta.

Sept 1:Unidentified gunmen shot dead seven Shia Hazara civilians in the Hazar Ganji area of Quetta.

Sept 26:Mohsin Ali Naqvi, a member of the minority Shia community, was gunned down outside his office in Quetta, the Balochistan capital.

Oct 8: Eight Shia Muslims were killed in sectarian attacks across Karachi.

Oct 15: Armed men on a motorbike opened fire at a vehicle on Sattar Road, killing Mohammad Ismail and his brother Ishaq. They belonged to the Shia community. Three people were also injured.

Oct 16: Four members of the ethnic Hazara community were killed in Quetta.

A remote-controlled bomb went off during a Shia Muslim Chehlum procession in the tehsil of Khanpur in Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab. Eighteen people were killed and dozens of others injured from the incident.

Nov 6: Agha Aftab Haider Jaffari, a prominent Shia leader was shot dead in Quetta.

Nov 18: On 4th Moharram, two Shia men were killed in a bomb blast in an Imambargah in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi. Seventeen people were injured including 5 rangers.

Nov 19:Bombing in a Karachi Imambargah killed 3 Shia Muslims, and injured another 17.

Nov 22: Suicide attack on a Shia mourning procession on 7th of Moharram killed 20 mourners, injured 46 in Rawalpindi in the cantonment area of Dhok Syedan. TTP's Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility.

Two bomb blasts in Karachi in Orangi Town near a Shia mosque killed two people and injured 16. TTP's Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility.

Nov 24: Eight people including four children were killed on 9th of Moharram in a bomb blast in Dera Ismail Khan (the constituency of Maulana Fazlur Rehman). At least 27 people including a policeman were injured. TTP's Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility. A TV remote control was used to detonate the explosives.

Nov 25: A bomb detonated near a Muharram procession in Commissionary Bazaar in Dera Ismail Khan's Choglia area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Sunday, 10th of Moharram, killing five Shia Muslims and injuring at least 70 others. TTP's Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility.

Dec 5: A man was killed and his brother injured when they came under fire on Airport Road near Askari Park here on Tuesday evening. The victims belonged to the Shia Hazara community.

Dec 25: Three Shia shopkeepers were killed in Karachi in target killing incidents.

Dec 21: One Shia and one Sunni Muslim were killed in Karachi in an act of terror.

Dec 30: At least 19 Shia Muslim pilgrims were killed in a bomb attack on a bus convoy in Mastung, 25 kilometers away from Quetta. More than 20 people were injured.

The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist/researcher. His work is archived at www.pol-dev.com Email:yamankalyan@gmail.com

Comments (3 comments)

very nice ...

Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2013 by Aabis from Lahore

I'm confused - I thought that George Bush & the evil Americans were responsible for all of this - please educate me!!

Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2013 by Ken Baskin from Canada

Very Nice information gathering Shehzad sb.....God bless you I think forgot to add one incident taken in Chilas on 4th April where the butchers killed more than 30 Shia muslims on KKH when they were travelling from Rawalpindi to Skardu......the most brutally killed shia brothers by the terrorists.................

Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2013 by Shabbir from SKD