Monday, February 23, 2009

Iran warns Pakistan over Parachinar massacre



 Iran warns Pakistan over Parachinar massacre
Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:17:18 GMT
Iranian students rally in front of Pakistan's Embassy in Tehran protesting February 15th massacre of Parachinar Shia by Taliban.
Tehran has cautioned Islamabad over the 'silent massacre' of its Shia community by the Taliban, in the border town of Parachinar.

"The incidents that have occurred against Pakistan's Shia community are a plot to create conflict between the region's Sunni and Shia population," Ali Larijani said, according to a Monday report in Iran's Hamshari daily.

"We have warned Islamabad over the incidents and we will pursue the matter," he added.

Larijani made the comments after Majlis representative Seyyed Ali Bozorgvari criticized 'international and human rights organizations for their deadly silence over the clear genocide' that is taking place in Parachinar.

Tehran's warning to Islamabad comes after months of increasingly violent attacks in Pakistan's Kurram Agency - the capital of which is Parachinar - and the lack of government intervention.

Although no exact figures have been released on the number of people killed in the Kurram Agency, hundreds are believed to have been murdered, thousands maimed and thousands displaced.

While some reports estimate that around 25-30 people have been killed on daily bases during the past six months, other sources believe the total figure is closer to 1300 deaths.

The attacks, which are carried out by the Taliban militia, have not attracted media coverage or international action, sparking outrage in the Shia world.

Religious figures in countries like Iran and Iraq have spoken out against the attacks and condemned the silence over the devastating humanitarian situation unfolding in the region.

Among those figures is the Iranian Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, who criticized the Iranian Foreign Ministry for failing to 'cry out' against the attacks to international organizations. He drew a comparison between the Parachinar massacre and the Israeli war in Gaza.

During the past 19-months, Parachinar's 550 thousand residents have been suffering shortages of vital supplies, as all roads connecting the region to Pakistan have come under Taliban control.

The majority of government relief convoys dispatched to the area have come under attack by militants, who generally kill the drivers and confiscate the cargoes of food and medicine.

Source:http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=86529&sectionid=351020101


 

 


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