The 2004 Quetta Ashura massacre is the

sectarian Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

terrorist attack on Tuesday 2 March 2004 during an

Ashura Ashura (, , ) is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. Among Shia Muslims, Ashura is observed through large demonstrations of high-scale mourning as it marks the ...

procession in the southwestern city of

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

, in the

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. At least 42 persons were killed and more than 100 wounded in the attack. The attack took place in Liaqat

Bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

Quetta, almost all of the victims were from the Hazara ethnic minority of Balochistan. The incident occurred just after the incident of the Karbala Ashura bombings in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Background

The

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Muslim's processions are held throughout

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

to commemorate the

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

Imam Hussain Ibn Ali Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

every year on the Day of Ashura. Like other parts of

city has a notable population of Shia Muslims who mainly belong to Hazara community. In Quetta, the Ashura procession starts from Alamdar Road, where all the Imambargahs gather from around the city mainly from

Hazara Town Hazara Town (Urdu: , Hazaragi: , Dari: ) is a lower- to middle-income area on the western outskirts of Quetta, Pakistan with a population of up to 2,500,000, of which an estimated two-thirds are ethnic Hazaras and the remaining portion are Pas ...

, then the procession moves to Mezan Chowk, where

prayers Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...

are offered, and Matam was performed then moves to Liaqat Bazaar and ends on Alamdar Road.

Massacre

The

procession was on its traditional route, when it reached the main

, three terrorist from top a building, threw

hand grenades A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

followed by firing with automatic weapons before they blew themselves up, which left around 50 dead and more 100 injured.

Perpetrators

The police identified the assailants bodies after DNA tests and investigations. They belonged to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the banned Pakistani

terrorist group A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

. The

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

arrested a police constable who allegedly allowed the terrorist to use his house to plan the attack.

Funeral

A mass funeral was arranged the next day.

Response and reactions

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the attacks and named it a ''cowardly'' act. The, Secretary-General of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Abdulwahed Belkeziz said The Embassy of Japan in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

issued a press release Interior Minister of Pakistan,

Faisal Saleh Hayat Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat ( ur, مخدوم سيد فیصل صالح حیات; born 1952 in Lahore) is a Pakistani politician from Jhang, Punjab and sports administrator. He is currently serving as the President of South Asian Football Fe ...

condemned the attack and said

References