Sectarian Violence Explodes In Pakistan As Sunni Leader Is Gunned Down

We haven't really heard much about islamic sectarian strife in Pakistan like we have in Iraq but today the cork popped off some of the inner hatreds between Pakistani Sunnis and Shias as a prominent Sunni leader of a banned Sunni terror group was gunned down. The assassination sparked some huge protests and violence. Now, in Pakistan, the Sunnis outnumber the Shias about 4 to 1 but the Shias have always been fairly active in their violence. From the article at Dawn, here's a look at some bits of the story:

Allamma Ali Sher Haideri was killed along with one of his associates in the shooting at Pir Jo Goth village, Khairpur district, in southern Sindh, senior police official Pir Muhammed Shah told AFP.
He said the attacker was killed after Haideri’s guards returned fire, and that several of Haideri’s men were wounded in the incident.
Haideri led the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni extremist outfit blamed for a string of sectarian attacks across Pakistan against Shiites.
The killing sparked rioting in Karachi, where angry mobs burnt a bus and a car and fired gunshots into the air, witnesses and police said.

Millat-e-Islamia, or Nation of Islam, was formed in 2002 by members of the notorious Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni Muslim organisation that was for years involved in tit-for-tat killings with Shia militants.
The government banned the SSP along with several other militant groups in 2002 after joining the US-led campaign against .

This just points to the continued chaos inside of Pakistan - you have Taliban fighting government troops in the NW, you have Taliban and al Qaeda bombing locations throughout the country and now we see sectarian attacks on the increase. And all the time this country sits on nuclear weapons. Boy, that outt make everyone sleep well tonight.

Sipah-i-Sahaba chief Ali Sher Haideri gunned down

KARACHI: The leader of a banned Sunni outfit was shot dead in southern Pakistan on Monday, sparking sectarian rioting in Pakistan’s Karachi and other parts of Sindh, police said.
Allamma Ali Sher Haideri was killed along with one of his associates in the shooting at Pir Jo Goth village, Khairpur district, in southern Sindh, senior police official Pir Muhammed Shah told AFP.
He said the attacker was killed after Haideri’s guards returned fire, and that several of Haideri’s men were wounded in the incident.
Haideri led the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni extremist outfit blamed for a string of sectarian attacks across Pakistan against Shiites.
The killing sparked rioting in Karachi, where angry mobs burnt a bus and a car and fired gunshots into the air, witnesses and police said.
‘One of our police officials and two others were injured in the firing by the armed men during rioting,’ city police chief Waseem Ahmad told AFP.
He said police arrested seven men belonging to SSP from a city mosque, and recovered weapons and ammunition from their possession.
Shah said earlier that all shops and business had also shut their doors in Khairpur district.
‘We have deployed a maximum police force in the district while paramilitary Rangers are also there to help us,’ he said.
Life came to standstill as strikes were observed in towns across Sindh and in parts of Punjab, residents said.
‘Police... were deployed in sensitive areas and we are protecting the life and property of the people,’ said Salman Chaudhry, the police chief in Jhang town, where SSP was formed in the early 1980s.
Millat-e-Islamia, or Nation of Islam, was formed in 2002 by members of the notorious Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni Muslim organisation that was for years involved in tit-for-tat killings with Shia militants.
The government banned the SSP along with several other militant groups in 2002 after joining the US-led campaign against .
The Millat-e-Islamia was officially banned in 2003 though it has continued to operate.
Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, president of the party, blamed Shias for Haideri’s killing.
‘The attackers were none other than Shi’ites,’ Ludhianvi told Reuters.