Footage and reports from the scene show leaders of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ –widely understood as the rebranded form of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) – delivering hard-line speeches in the afternoon just before the blast. The event included rhetoric targeting Shia beliefs and identity. While the rally itself did not turn violent, its timing and message have intensified scrutiny of the sectarian undercurrents that afflict Pakistan.

Who Are ASWJ/SSP?

ASWJ traces its roots directly to Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a Sunni extremist organization founded in the 1980s with an explicitly anti-Shia agenda. SSP was outlawed in 2002, but has continually resurfaced under new names, including ASWJ, allowing its activists and leaders to operate in public political and religious spaces.

Human rights reports and country analyses also document widespread incitement of hatred and violence against Shia Muslims by extremist clerics and groups in Pakistan, with rhetoric tolerated across many regions even when overt violence declines.

A history of anti-Shia violence

Shia Muslims – a minority in predominantly Sunni Pakistan – have been recurrent targets of sectarian violence over decades. Studies and historical records show thousands of Shias killed in militant attacks by groups that include violent offshoots of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Islamic State affiliates. These groups have on several occasions vowed to “rid Pakistan of Shias.”

Notable historical instances include the 1963 Therhi massacre in Sindh, where more than a hundred Shias were killed in a sectarian attack, and the 1988 Gilgit massacre, in which estimates place Shia fatalities in the hundreds amid targeted violence. Mass bombings in Quetta’s Shia-dominated neighborhoods and targeted killings also claimed hundreds of lives from 2010-2013.

More recently, a mass shooting ambush on a convoy of Shia travellers in Kurram District in late 2024 killed at least 54 people — one of the deadliest sectarian assaults in years.

These attacks are part of a long pattern of sectarian militancy in Pakistan, where extremist groups have periodically targeted Shias during worship, pilgrimage or travel.

Pakistan blames the “foreign hand”

In the aftermath of Friday’s Islamabad blast, Pakistani authorities have placed strong emphasis on foreign involvement in the attack.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said investigators had identified suspects with links to militants in Afghanistan and alleged support from foreign actors, including India – claims that Indian officials have called “baseless and pointless.”

The Islamic State’s Pakistan affiliate has also claimed responsibility for the bombing, underscoring the role of transnational extremist networks in attacking Shia targets.

However, critics argue that focusing on external blame may obscure the deep-rooted history of sectarian hatred and organized anti-Shia activity inside Pakistan, including groups like ASWJ/SSP whose rhetoric and mobilisation have helped normalise social hostility toward religious minorities.

Civil society advocates warn that without confronting these internal dynamics – including public hate speech and the continued operation of sectarian networks – Pakistan’s recurring cycles of violence against Shias will persist alongside any foreign threats.

Fariha Ijaz

The writer is an Assistant Editor at Dissent Today, focusing on extremism and political violence.

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Beginning at the Parachinar Press Club, the march covered a distance of about 15 miles and ended at the Samir Abbas area. Most participants were from the Shia minority community, which has long been a target of sectarian violence in the region.

The protesters called on the authorities to reopen the Thal-Parachinar road, which connects Parachinar to the rest of the country. This road has been closed for about a month, and the blockade has brought daily life and trade in the town to a halt.

Another demand is action against militants targeting the Shia community. On November 5, civilian vehicles were reportedly attacked by these militants, killing two and injuring several others, including women. Further, the protesters have alleged that the Pakistan military has been distributing aid packages only to Sunni-dominated areas in the town, deliberately overlooking Shia areas. The marchers demanded the authorities end this policy of discrimination.

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While speaking to the attendees of the meeting, he reportedly emphasized that there is no room for intolerance or extreme actions by any group towards anyone, especially minorities and marginalized members of society.

But among those who were invited to the GHQ for this meeting with the army chief was Ahmad Ludhianvi, an extremist cleric who heads the anti-Shia outfit Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), which is a sister organization of the banned outfit Sipah Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). Ludhianvi is on record inciting violence against Pakistan’s Shia Muslim community on several occasions.

Ludhianvi has been placed on the 4th Schedule of Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) many times. Individuals are placed on the fourth schedule over their association with banned outfits and their movement is restricted to avoid a potential threat to public order.

The extremist cleric has a long history of issuing hateful remarks against the Shia community. In 2015, Ludhianvi appeared on a talk show on Geo News where he said that he does not consider Shias Muslim.

ASWJ, the outfit he currently heads, is a new name for the notorious militant organization SSP, which has been involved in targeted killings of the Shia community in Pakistan. Ludhianvi was also an ally of Malik Ishaq, the former head of the globally designated terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), whose stated mission is to rid Pakistan of Shias.

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According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2013 nearly 700 Shia were killed and more than 1,000 were injured. While the large scale attacks targeting the community subsided close to 2015, but targeted killings and other instances of violence continue to target the community. The day of Ashura (10th Muharram) has particularly brought bloodshed for the community, with bomb blasts targeting the Muharram processions.

In 2020, another wave of bigotry and violence against the Shia community was witnessed, with several blasphemy cases registered against them in different parts of the country merely for practicing their faith on Ashura. Extremist groups that consider Shias “infidel” were behind the rise in blasphemy cases against the community. In March last year, a Shia mosque in Peshawar was attacked, and over 60 people were killed.
Earlier, in January 2021, 11 Shia-Hazara coal miners in Mach, Balochistan, were killed after being abducted. The then prime minister Imran Khan was criticised for refusing to visit the protesting heirs of the slain coal miners, calling them “blackmailers”. While the list of atrocities against the Shia community in Pakistan is long, below are some high-profile Shia individuals who lost their lives to the senseless violence.

Former MNA Ali Raza Abidi

Former Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Ali Raza Abidi, a Shia by faith, was shot dead outside his residence in Karachi’s Defence area in 2019. While his killers remain unknown, he was a vocal voice against activities of banned sectarian outfits, which is why the involvement of these groups in his murder cannot be ruled out. Abidi actively collaborated with civil society groups in their campaign ahead of the 2018 elections seeking disqualification of extremist candidates.

Professor Sibte Jafar

Professor Sibte Jafar was principal of the Liaquatabad College in Karachi and a renowned Shia poet. He was shot dead by unknown men in 2013 near Liaquatabad College. Two members of the banned militant group LeJ were arrested for his killing.

Activist Khurram Zaki

A vocal civil society activist and a strong critic of banned sectarian outfits, 40-year-old Khurram Zaki was killed in 2016 in Karachi.

Allama Nasir Abbas

A prominent Shia cleric from Multan, Allama Nasir Abbas, was shot dead in Lahore when he was returning home after attending a Majlis in the Shah Jamal area of Lahore.

Dr Ali Haider

A prominent eye specialist, Dr Ali Haider and his son shot dead in Lahore near the residence of the then deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Haider was driving his son Murtaza to Aitchison College when two gunmen stopped them and opened fire at the vehicle, killing the doctor and his son.

Aside from these attacks on Shia professionals and clerics, Ashura processions were also bombed many times. In 2013, a suicide blast targeting an Ashura procession in Jacobabad was attacked and 22 people lost their lives. Earlier, in 2006, at least 40 people were killed and 50 others injured in a suspected suicide attack targeting a Muharram procession in the Hangu town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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