Recently in Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Category

In Taoism and Confucianism, harmony and balance is main goal, which is the reason for the old Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times". We certainly do: "The Risk that Nuclear Weapons Will Be Used Is Growing," from Spiegel, February 10:

Richard Burt is an American diplomat who served as the US Ambassador to Germany between 1985 and 1989. In 1991, he served as the chief US negotiator during the START nuclear-disarmament talks with the Soviet Union. Among other things, he currently serves as the US chair of Global Zero, an initiative advocating an end to all nuclear weapons. Before joining the US State Department, he worked at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies and as a national security correspondent for the New York Times....

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Isn't Iran another good example?

Burt: The problem with Iran is not that there is necessarily going to be an Israeli-Iranian nuclear conflict. In fact, I think the Israelis would probably deter the Iranians from using nuclear weapons. But the danger is that once Iran acquires these weapons, there's the potential for a cascade of other countries to do the same. Turkey, for example, would be very likely to acquire its own nuclear weapons if Iran went that way; Egypt and Saudi Arabia, too. What we could see is a dangerous Sunni-Shite nuclear arms race -- and that is very worrisome.

Across the world, one could argue that the world's biggest Islamophobes are Sunnis attacking Shi'ites, and vice-versa. Where's the outrage for that? "Dozens Killed in Attack on Iraqi Funeral Procession," by Sam Dagher and Ali A. Nabhan for the Wall Street Journal, January 27:

BAGHDAD—Dozens of people were killed and wounded when a suicide car bomber attacked a funeral procession in Baghdad on Friday, days after an al Qaeda-linked insurgent group warned it would step up its fight against Iraq's government, security forces and Shiite majority.

The suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a crowd that included the pallbearers at a funeral for an Iraqi army commander's brother, according to a Ministry of Interior official. The commander had been assassinated along with three other people on Thursday.

Friday's attack in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah on the capital's southeastern side left at least 31 people dead and another 60 wounded, according to the official.

The explosion happened in a congested section of the working class neighborhood near a hospital, an outdoor food market and an apartment building.

"I saw bodies strewn all over the place," said a witness. "The women fishmongers are all gone, not a single one is left."

Hours after the attack a fire truck was seen hosing down blood and debris at the scene as grieving families waited to receive the bodies of their loved ones from the hospital for burial.

In a separate attack before nightfall, a roadside bomb planted next to an outdoor soccer field in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliya in western Baghdad killed one person and wounded three, according to the Ministry of Interior official. There was no claim of responsibility for Friday's attacks.

The attacks came after a warning earlier this week of more violence from a group linked to al Qaeda in Iraq.

"Today we have retaken the initiative attacking and appearing whenever and wherever we please," said a man identifying himself as Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq, in an audio message posted online this week. The group is typically described as a front for al Qaeda in Iraq. The authenticity of the recording couldn't be independently verified.

Iraq has seen a significant increase over the past few weeks in suicide bombings, the type of violence usually associated with al Qaeda-linked militants.

The Islamic State of Iraq, which was significantly weakened in recent years following the deaths and capture of many of its leaders, appears to be exploiting the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq last month, the Iraqi government's distraction by a political crisis and a rise in sectarian tensions. The group's goal is to establish a fundamentalist Sunni Islamic state in Iraq. It considers the country's Shiite majority apostates....

And apostates are lawful for slaughter under Islamic law. By the same principle by which Shi'ite Iran wants to execute a Christian pastor who left Islam, al-Qaeda in Iraq wants to execute Shi'ites.

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

Yes, somehow, there's still a tendency to see the Sunni-Shi'ite conflict as a conflict between Sunnis and Shi'ites. We have seen outbreaks of persecution of Shi'ites in Pakistan, and this case only further drives home the point that while the conflict originated in the Middle East, it is a religious conflict that transcends geography. Hence the difficulty over the past millennium or so in "overcoming that."

Perhaps they could call it progress if both parties just accused each other of Islamophobia, put out some petulant press releases, and sued one another. "East Java: a growing tension between Sunni and Shiite, fears of a conflict," by Mathias Hariyadi for Asia News, January 19:

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - In the province of East Java there is a growing tension between the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims. Human rights and interfaith dialogue activists have launched appeals for calm and call the police to ensure safety. However, a local fringe of the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) - the most important moderate Muslim movement in Indonesia – is also invoking the intervention of the police to arrest the leader of the Shiite communities on the island of Madura. They claim he must be "kicked out" from the area, because he foments sectarian divisions and promotes a distorted view of Islam.

Since January 17 tension between Sunnis and Shiites in the island of Madura has been growing, which could lead to a "conflict" open. The Nu leader of the province of East Java (Pwnu Jatim) Kiai Hajj Mutawakil Alallah appeals to the police to "arrest" Kiai Hajj Tajul muluk, religious leader of the Shiite community in Nangkernang, in the sub-district Ombeg, Sampang regency, Madura. Police, they say, should not only target those who continue – since the end of 2011 - to attack the Shiite community of Madura, but also those who promote interfaith discord and, in particular, Tajul muluk whose teaching is "illegal" as defined by the same Nu and members of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

Meanwhile, several groups committed to defending human rights activists and interfaith dialogue, unlike the Sunni leader Kiai Hajj Mutawakil Alallah, ask the police to protect the security of Shiite leader Tajul muluk and restore peace within the Islamic community. Aan Anshori, Nu a young scholar of East Java, does not hide their concerns.

Indonesia, he explains to AsiaNews, shows more flaws in the protection of religious freedom and the province of East Java is revealed as the "most violent" territories of the archipelago, as evidenced by the wave of violence against the Ahmadis. He concludes: since the death of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the "spirit of tolerance is in steep decline."

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

"Gaza Shiites claim Hamas persecution," by Ibrahim Barzak for the Associated Press, January 17:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A member of Gaza's tiny Shiite minority says followers were beaten by Hamas police during a religious ceremony last week.

The man said police burst into a house of a fellow Shiite during a gathering to commemorate the suffering of the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. The man says about 15 worshippers were beaten and briefly detained. He declined to be identified fearing further harassment.

Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Ghussein said Tuesday that the men were planning "criminal acts."

It's the first time Gaza's Shiite community, believed to number several dozen, has claimed harassment by the territory's Sunni Muslim rulers.

Despite theological differences, Hamas has traditionally had warm ties with Shiite Iran.

The relationship has reportedly not been as warm in the past year, however. Iran was said to have reduced funding to Hamas due in part to its lack of support for Syria's Assad.

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

Still waiting? Hope you brought a book. "Bomb Kills at Least 53 Pilgrims in South Iraq," by Nabil al-Jurani for the Associated Press, January 14:

A bomb killed at least 53 Shiite pilgrims near the southern port city of Basra on Saturday, an Iraqi official said. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that have killed scores of people and threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal.

Why are they tense? Do they need a spa day?

The attack happened on the last of the 40 days of Arbaeen, when hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from Iraq and abroad visit the Iraqi city of Karbala, as well as other holy sites.

Saturday's blast occurred near the town of Zubair as pilgrims marched toward the Shiite Imam Ali shrine on the outskirts of the town, said Ayad al-Emarah, a spokesman for the governor of Basra province. The shrine is an enclave within an enclave -- a Shiite site on the edge of a mostly Sunni town in an otherwise mostly Shiite province.

There were conflicting reports on the source of the blast.

Al-Emarah said the explosion was caused either by a suicide attacker or a roadside bomb. But an Iraqi military intelligence officer who is investigating the attack said it was a roadside bomb, noting that the road from Basra to Zubair being used by pilgrims had been closed to traffic. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media....

“We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people.” -- Obama

"Nothing appears likelier in Iraq’s future than more jihadist persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, more Sunni-Shi’ite jihad, and more jockeying for power by Iran as it continues its jihad to become the leader of the Islamic world." -- Spencer

Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Attacks targeting Shiites kill 72 in Iraq," by Sameer N. Yacoub for the Associated Press, January 4:

BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Iraq killed 72 people on Thursday, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded just after the last American troops left the country in mid-December.

The coordinated attacks targeting Shiites bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The bombings began early in the morning when explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing at least 27 people. A few hours later, a suicide attack hit Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing 45, said provincial official Quosay al-Abadi. The explosions took place near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. Hospital officials confirmed the causalities.

The blasts occurred in the run-up to Arbaeen, a Shiite holy day which marks the end of 40 days of mourning that follow the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered Shiite figure. During this time, Shiite pilgrims from across Iraq make their way to Karbala, south of Baghdad....

Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician last month. The Sunni official, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, is holed up in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north — effectively out of reach of state security forces.

Fears have already been running high that the sectarian tensions could re-ignite Shiite-Sunni warfare that just a few years ago pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

The attacks began in Baghdad with the explosion of a bomb attached to a motorcycle near a bus stop where day laborers gather to look for work in the Shiite Sadr City neighborhood. One of those who witnessed the attack said it filled the area with thick black smoke....

That attack was followed by the explosion of a roadside bomb. Police found a third bomb nearby and defused it.

The two Sadr City blasts killed 12 people, according to police and medical officials.

Less than two hours later, two explosions rocked the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah in the north of the capital, killing 15 people.

Officials said the Kazimiyah blasts occurred almost simultaneously, with at least one caused by a car bomb. Simultaneous explosions are a tactic frequently used by the Sunni insurgents against Shiites....

The attacks were the deadliest in Baghdad since Dec. 22, when a series of blasts killed 69 people in mostly Shiite neighborhoods. An al-Qaida front group in Iraq claimed responsibility for those attacks....

Just days ago I wrote in Human Events: "Nothing appears likelier in Iraq’s future than more jihadist persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, more Sunni-Shi’ite jihad, and more jockeying for power by Iran as it continues its jihad to become the leader of the Islamic world."

Meanwhile, Iyad Allawi apparently expected that the Americans would stay in Iraq indefinitely, cleaning up all the messes of sectarian and ethnic strife and political jockeying. But Sunni/Shi'ite and Arab/Kurd enmity are a lot older than the United States, and would never have been eradicated by the U.S., even if we stayed there 1000 years.

"Wave of bombings across Baghdad kills 60," by Qassim Abdul-Zahra for the Associated Press, December 22 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of at least 14 bombings ripped across Baghdad Thursday morning, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months. The apparently coordinated attacks struck days after the last American forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shiite and Sunni politicians that has sent sectarian tensions soaring.

The bombings may be linked more to the U.S. withdrawal than the political crisis, but all together, the developments heighten fears of a new round of Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed like the one a few years back that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the bombings bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda’s Sunni insurgents. Most appeared to hit Shiite neighborhoods, although some Sunni areas were also targeted. In all, 11 neighborhoods were hit by either car bombs, roadside blasts or sticky bombs attached to cars. There was at least one suicide bombing and the blasts went off over several hours.

The deadliest attack was in the Karrada neighborhood, where a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle blew himself up outside the office of a government agency fighting corruption. Two police officers at the scene said the bomber was driving an ambulance and told guards that he needed to get to a nearby hospital. After the guards let him through, he drove to the building where he blew himself up, the officers said....

Because such a large-scale, coordinated attack likely took weeks to plan, and the political crisis erupted only few days ago, the violence was not likely a direct response to the tensions within the government. Also, al Qaeda opposed Sunni cooperation in the Shiite-dominated government in the first place and is not aligned with Sunni politicians.

The Sunni extremist group often attacks Shiites, who they believe are not true Muslims....

"Ex-Iraqi PM accuses US of leaving job unfinished," from MSNBC, December 22 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

A leading Iraqi politician has accused the country's prime minister of acting like Saddam Hussein in trying to silence opposition, saying he risks provoking a new fightback against dictatorship.

Iyad Allawi -- a former prime minister who leads the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc -- also claimed the United States had pulled out its troops "without completing the job they should have finished."

Allawi said that the current premier, Nuri al-Maliki, had used fabricated confessions to demand the arrest of the country's Sunni Muslim vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi.

Al-Hashemi, who has taken refuge in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, denies allegations he ordered bombings and shootings against his opponents. The move against him, on the very day U.S. troops left the country, threatens to upset a balance among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Speaking to Reuters two days after the final departure of the U.S. forces that ended Saddam's Sunni-dominated rule, Allawi called for international efforts to prevent al-Maliki, who is a Shiite, from provoking renewed sectarian warfare of the kind that killed tens of thousands in the years after Saddam fell in 2003.

"This is terrifying, to bring fabricated confessions," Allawi said shortly before leaving the Jordanian capital Amman to return to Iraq. "It reminds me personally of what Saddam Hussein used to do where he would accuse his political opponents of being terrorists and conspirators."...

He said he would now try to unseat the prime minister in the legislature: "We have to make a move to bring about stability to the country by trying to find a substitute to Maliki through parliament," said Allawi, who repeated allegations that Shiite Iran is seeking control in Iraq now that U.S. forces have left....

A power play by the Shi'ite majority, or something more? "Tension rise as Iraq seeks Sunni VP arrest," by Rania El Gamal for Reuters, December 19:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Muslim Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday for suspected ties to assassinations and bombings, a decision likely to fuel sectarian tensions after the U.S. troop withdrawal. The move risks unraveling Iraq's fragile power-sharing deal among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs who have struggled to overcome tensions just a few years after sectarian slaughter drove the country to the edge of a civil war.

Interior Ministry spokesman, Major General Adel Daham, told a news conference confessions by suspects identified as Hashemi's bodyguards linked the vice president to killings and attacks on Iraqi government and security officials.

"An arrest warrant was issued for Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi according to Article 4 of the terrorism law and is signed by five judges... this warrant should be executed," Daham said, waving a copy of the document in front of reporters.

The political struggle between Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Sunni rivals in the country's delicate power-sharing deal has intensified during the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops nearly nine years after the invasion.

The ministry showed taped confessions, aired on state-run Iraqiya television and other local media, of men it claimed were members of Hashemi's security detail. The men said they had been paid by his office to carry out killings.

The three men shown on television detailed the assassinations they were told to carry out by Hashemi's aides including planting roadside bombs and driveby shootings of security and government officials.

One man said he was handed $3,000 as a reward by Hashemi himself.

But the identity of the men could not be independently confirmed. Hashemi, who could not be contacted for a response, was in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous enclave in the north, Kurdish political sources said. Kurdistan has its own government and security forces, making Hashemi's immediate arrest unlikely.

In a statement earlier on Monday, Hashemi accused Maliki's government of "deliberate harassment" after his plane was delayed for three hours at Baghdad airport. He had been heading for the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya to meet the Iraqi president.

Security forces arrested three Hashemi bodyguards on their way back from the airport, the statement said, adding military forces surrounding Hashemi's house for weeks had been beefed up.

"The vice-president has been very patient and is waiting for a reasonable explanation from the government parties concerned," the statement said.

Fearing a deepening crisis that could push Iraq back into sectarian turmoil, senior Iraqi politicians were holding talks with Maliki and other leaders to contain the dispute....

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

"Bombs targeting pilgrims kill 22 in Iraq's Hilla," from Reuters, December 5:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three bombs tore through crowds of Shi'ite pilgrims celebrating a major ritual in Iraq's Hilla city on Monday, killing least 22 - mostly women and children - and wounding 60 more, local police and witnesses said.

The attacks, at the height of Ashura, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein and defines Shi'ite Islam, underscored Iraq's fragile security as the last U.S. troops withdraw from the country by the end of the year.

Whose prophet?

In the first attack, a car bomb blasted the end of one Shi'ite procession, killing 16 mainly women and children, wounding 45 others and leaving bloody pools, shoes and tore clothes scattered across the street, police and witnesses said.

"A powerful and horrible explosion went off behind us, smoke filled the area," said Hadi al-Mamouri, who was taking part in the ritual. "I could only hear the screams of women and I could only see the bodies of women and children on the street."

A second attack involving two roadside bombs killed at least six more people at another procession in Hilla and wounded 15 more, police sources said....

Oddly enough, the "anti-Shiite militants" were Sunni jihadists. The ever-dreaded Islamophobic "backlash" remains elusive. "Six Anti-Shia Militants Arrested With 25000 kg of Explosives in Pakistan," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, November 10 (thanks to Twostellas):

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Pakistan Police has arrested six anti-Shiite militants, and seized 25000 kilogramme explosives from a poultry farm in Mandi Bahauddin in Punjab province.

The militants were preparing an explosive device for launching terror attacks in the holy month of Muharram (Imam Hussain Martyrdom) in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad.

Two of them are expert in preparing suicide cars. These militants were being watched for the last six months.

The militants belonged to Swat, Swabi, Mardan, Bhakhar, Dera Ismail Khan and Quetta in Pakistan.

The Mourning of Muharram is an important period of mourning in Shia Islam, taking place in Muharram which is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is also called the Remembrance of Muharram. Many of the events associated with the remembrance take place in Hussainia, Mosques and other religious places.

Remember when we said the assessment of blame for the "anti-Islam" toy gun promised to be entertaining? Someone is bound to blame Israel or America at some point, but this explanation is actually rather creative for a change.

Sheik Muhammad Al-Amin Ismail blames Shi'ites, due to the antagonism between Ali and Aisha. Ali is accepted by Shi'ites as the first imam and legitimate successor to Muhammad. Muhammad's child bride, Aisha, was not only the daughter of Abu Bakr, the first "rightly guided" caliph for Sunnis, but also never forgave Ali for noting to Muhammad that there were plenty of other brides to choose from when Aisha was accused of adultery.

And if you believe the Sheikh, the Shi'ites decided to stick it to the Sunnis with... a toy gun that plays offensive sounds. While stories of raids have been more recent, the toys have apparently been on the market for at least a few weeks before them. "Sudanese Preacher Sheik Muhammad Al-Amin Ismail Accuses Shiites of Distributing Anti-Sunni Toy Guns," from MEMRI, September 30:

Sheik Muhammad Al-Amin Ismail: I've brought you an example [of toys manufactured by Shiites]. We all hope that the brothers who supervise these products, and their import and export, will ban products such as these.

Holds up a toy pistol

The sound might not be so clear through the microphone.

Why do they do this?

Shoots the pistol, which emits shooting sounds and a metallic voice:

"Go, go, go. Pull over. Save the hostages."

Sheik Muhammad Al-Amin Ismail: It says: "Shoot 'Aisha" [the Prophet Muhammad's wife]. This is for children. "Shoot 'Aisha."

Pistols. This one costs five Sudanese liras, this one costs seven liras, and there is a large one that costs 20 liras. Again, the sound goes: "Shoot 'Aisha."

Toy pistol sound: "Go, go, go. Pull over. Save the hostages."

Sheik Muhammad Al-Amin Ismail: "Shoot 'Aisha." Until when?

As the opposition leader said, "the trend is clear."

"Ennahda says it models itself on the ruling AKP party in Turkey, another Muslim-majority country which like Tunisia to date has a secular state," but considering Turkey's behavior under the AKP, that is not exactly a reassuring statement. For that matter, Tunisia is certain not to have a secular constitution, without reference to Islam. In Turkey, Sharia has been on the outside trying to get back in; in the "new" Tunisia, it will get in on the ground floor.

An update on this story. "Islamists claim lead in Tunisia poll," from Agence France-Presse, October 24:

Tunisia's main Islamist party claimed on Monday to have captured about 40 per cent of the vote in the country's first free polls, as the cradle of the Arab Spring basked in praise for its democratic revolution.

Official results were only due on Tuesday but provisional results released by some media outlets appeared to confirm Ennahda's prediction that it would be the dominant force in Tunisia's constituent assembly.

The leader of the secular centre-left PDP party, tipped as Ennahda's main challengers before the vote, conceded defeat.

"The trend is clear. The PDP is badly placed. It is the decision of the Tunisian people. I bow before their choice," leader Maya Jribi said at her party's headquarters.

Tunisians turned out en masse Sunday to elect an assembly seen as the custodian of the pro-democracy revolution that brought dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year-old rule to a crushing end nine months ago.

"We are not far from 40 per cent. It could be a bit more or a bit less, but we are sure to take 24 (of the 27) voting districts," Samir Dilou, a member of Ennahda's political bureau said, quoting "our sources".

Another executive member said the Ennahda party's own count showed it would have between 60 and 65 seats on the 217-member body.

Data posted on the site of independent radio station Mosaique FM also gave Ennahda the lead based on non definitive results from a few dozen polling centres.

The polls, for which over 90 percent of some 4.1 million registered voters turned out, won hearty acclaim from world leaders closely scrutinising developments on the soil of the Arab Spring's trailblazer.

"This landmark election constitutes a key step in the democratic transition of the country and a significant development in the overall democratic transformation in North Africa and the Middle East," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.

US President Barack Obama late Sunday hailed the vote as "an important step forward".

The 27-member European Union vowed support for the new authorities while former colonial power France hailed Tunisian voters' "democratic fervour".

Analysts widely predicted Ennahda to win the most votes but fall short of a majority in Sunday's elections for the new assembly that will rewrite the constitution and appoint a president to form a caretaker government.

The assembly will decide on the country's system of government and how to guarantee basic liberties, including women's rights, which many fear Ennahda would seek to diminish despite its assurances to the contrary.

It will also have interim authority to write laws and pass budgets.

Ennahda says it models itself on the ruling AKP party in Turkey, another Muslim-majority country which like Tunisia to date has a secular state.

Its critics have accused Ennahda of preaching modernism in public and radicalism in the mosques, but Tunisia's progressive left remains divided with party leaders having failed to form a pre-vote alliance.

This suicide attacker must have been reading Islamophobic literature misrepresenting his peaceful religion.

Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update. "Suicide bombing near Pakistani mosque kills 11," from Deutsche Presse Agentur, August 31 (thanks to Twostellas):

Islamabad - A car suicide bombing on Wednesday killed at least 11 people and injured 21 in south-west Pakistan, police said.

The attack took place in the parking lot of a mosque when hundreds of Shia Muslims were leaving after Eid al Fitr prayers for the end of Ramadan in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

'The attacker wanted to ram the explosive-laden car into Eid Gah (the mosque) but the explosion occurred in the parking lot,' city police chief Ahsan Mehboob said, adding that due to 'tight security' around the mosque the attacker could not get beyond the car park....

Hundreds of people have died in the clashes between minority Shia and majority Sunni Muslims across Pakistan in recent years.

Much of this looks like Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad. Will the Islamophobia never, ever end?

"Spate of bomb attacks kill 63 across Iraq," by Jamal Hashim for Xinhua, August 15 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A series of bomb attacks in seven provinces in central and northern Iraq on Monday left a total of 63 people killed and more than 260 wounded in a new escalation of violence in the country several months ahead of the proposed departure of U.S. troops.

The deadliest attack occurred in the city of Kut, some 170 km southeast of capital Baghdad, when a roadside bomb detonated at a marketplace in central the city at about 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) and was followed by a car bomb explosion, killing up to 34 people and wounding 64 others, a source from the provincial operations command told Xinhua.

Another deadly attack hit the Iraqi city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province in north of Baghdad, when two suicide bombers entered the provincial counter-terrorism headquarters after they passed the checkpoints with their military uniforms and fake IDs in an attempt to free al-Qaida militants detained in the headquarters' jail....

Salahudin province, located in northern central Iraq, is a mainly Sunni province. Its capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein.

In Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, six people were killed and 58 others wounded when two car bombs successively struck a police station, tasked with protecting the highways, in al-Hussein district in central Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad.

Elsewhere, three people were killed and up to 41 wounded in a car bomb explosion near al-Hindiyah police headquarters in eastern the city of Karbala, some 110 km southwest of Baghdad. The blast caused damages to the police building and destroyed several nearby police vehicles and civilian cars.

This kind of mass murder has become so commonplace in some Islamic countries that it is hardly even noticed. And certainly no one care to explore its motivations. Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Gunmen kill 11 Shiite Muslims in SW Pakistan," from The Associated Press, July 30:

QUETTA, Pakistan—Gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying minority Shiite Muslims in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 11 people in what appeared to be a sectarian attack, police said.

Two people were also wounded in the ambush in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, senior police official Hamid Shakeel said. The dead included one woman and two children.

Shakeel said the victims were heading to the nearby town of Hazara when the four gunmen ambushed the minibus before fleeing.

Angered over the killings, dozens of Shiites briefly blocked a main road and torched two cars and two motorcycles, Shakeel said. Police regained control of the situation with help from local Shiite elders....

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities have blamed majority Sunni militant groups for such violence in the past....

The Shi'ite Ahlul Bayt News Agency calls Dr. Abid Hussain a martyr. If his Sunni murderers had been killed in the process of murdering him, would they be martyrs also? I suppose it would depend on whether one asked a Sunni or a Shi'ite authority.

Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Pakistani Shia Dr Abid Hussain Martyred in Karachi," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, July 23 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The armed terrorists of Wahhabi organization on Friday gunned down a Shia Muslim Dr Abid Hussain in Tesar town Surjani.

The armed terrorists of Wahhabi organization Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lasjkar-e-Jhangvi and Taliban terrorists gunned down a Shia Doctor Abid Hussain (35) s/o Qadir Bux in surjani town.

This is not going to sit well with the Taliban's Shi'ite paymasters in Tehran. Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Taliban Terrorists Breaks the Electricity Supplies for Shia Regions," from Ahlul Bayt News Agency, July 5:

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The residents of Upper Kurram Agency has been facing the terrible situation because of the two weeks long break down of electricity supplies, which has badly affected the life of residents of Upper Kurram Agency. Who has already been suffering the attack of Taliban terrorists from last five years.

Though the Pakistan Army has initiated an operation against the Taliban terrorist but they have not yet restore the power supply of the Upper Kurram Agency.

The people of the area demanded of the government to immediately restore the power supplies and take action against the Taliban terrorists to end the five years besiege of Kurram Agency.

Apparently in retaliation for the killing of bin Laden. I didn't realize that Shi'ite soccer fans in Baghdad had killed him. Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update. "Iraq: car bomb near cafe kills 16 in Baghdad," from AP, May 3 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb tore through a cafe packed with young men watching a football match Tuesday in Baghdad, killing at least 16 people, officials said. It was the first major attack since U.S. commandos killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, which struck a Shiite enclave in a mainly Sunni neighborhood, but it bore the hallmarks of the terror network's chapter in Iraq. Al-Qaida operatives have vowed revenge for bin Laden's death on Monday....

Most of the dead and wounded were young people watching a football match, said police and hospital officials. A vendor selling food near the cafe also was among the 16 killed. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said 37 people also were wounded.

The attack occurred in a Shiite enclave in the former insurgent stronghold of Dora, an area in southwestern Baghdad that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq conflict...

"This is the cowardly reaction of al-Qaida after the killing of the big terrorist bin Laden. They intend to do this against such gatherings in Shiite areas," Jasim Hashim, a 20-year-old student who lives about 200 yards (meters) from where the bomb went off in front of a popular cafe....

"Today Masjids are razed and Qur'ans are burnt by those who claim they respect and defend Islam and Qur'an...the heinous act is not acceptable at all."

Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Grand Ayatollah Golpaigani Slams Sacrilegious Acts in Bahrain," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, April 25:

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaigani has condemned burning Quran and demolishing Masjids by Al-Khalifa Regime and Saudi forces.

“Today Masjids are razed and Qur'ans are burnt by those who claim they respect and defend Islam and Qur'an,” the Grand Ayatollah said, adding that "the heinous act is not acceptable at all."

The senior Shia Cleric called these sacrilegious acts rare in the history and underlined,” those who claim to have defended Qur'an now are rebelling against Islam.”

“These groups are following what the American Pastor [Terry Jones] did and are committing the same sacrilegious act which is too rare in the history,” the Grand Ayatollah underscored.

“Al-Khalifa Regime and Saudi ruler sold out their humanity and today they show the world their real nature and no doubt they will pay for their wrong-doings.”...

It is so inconvenient when news events contradict one's taqiyya. "'Islam seeks maintaining world peace,'" from the AhlulBayt News Agency, April 18:

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance highlights the Islamic Republic of Iran as a manifest of religious tolerance and fraternity between Shia and Sunni saying Islam is the religion which seeks maintaining peace in the world.

In the presser held on the sideline of the spring meeting of the World Bank Group in Washington, Seyyed Shamseddin Husseini was questioned about the long time opposition between Shia and Sunni and his proposal to alleviate the tension.

Iranian Minister of Economic Affair and Finance said, "Islamic Republic of Iran is a good example of the countries where Shia and Sunni have been living in peace for hundreds of years in peace."

"The commonalities of Shia and Sunni is so much that they have to be highlighted especially when some pour out their problems on Islam by setting Qur'an on fire," said the official, pointing to the Florida church Terry Jones Qur'an burning which angered world muslims. ...

Whoops: "Iranian Sunni protesters killed in clashes with security forces," by Saeed Kamali Dehghan in the Guardian, April 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

At least 12 people who are believed to belong to Iran's Sunni minority have been killed in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters in the south-western city of Ahwaz since Friday.

On Monday, Shirin Ebadi, Iran's Nobel peace prize laureate, wrote a letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights, in which she said "more than 12" Sunni protesters had been killed in Iran's oil-rich province of Khuzestan, home to many Arabic-speaking Sunni Iranians.

According to Ebadi, hundreds of people in Ahwaz had gathered for a peaceful demonstration against the Islamic regime's discrimination towards its Sunni minority.

"During these clashes, more than 12 people were killed, around 20 injured and tens of protesters have been arrested," Ebadi wrote in her letter.

She criticised Iran's treatment of the Sunnis and said: "In the 32 years' history of the Islamic Revolution, Arabic-speaking Iranians have suffered from inequality and an extensive discrimination."...

Not that they're anything but secular pro-democracy protesters, doncha know.

"Bahrain crackdown enrages Shiites across region," by Barbara Surk for The Associated Press, March 18:

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain's army on Friday demolished the 300-foot (90-meter) monument that had become a symbol of a monthlong Shiite uprising against the Sunni monarchy in the Gulf nation.

The destruction of the six white curved beams topped with a huge cement pearl underlined the resolve of the Sunni regime to root out any dissent in the kingdom, now under emergency rule.

The structure was built in Pearl Square as a monument to Bahrain's history as a pearl-diving center but became associated with the protests that have roiled the majority Shiite nation. Security forces overran a protest camp at the square on Wednesday, setting off clashes that killed at least five people, including two policemen. At least 12 people have been killed in the month-long revolt.

Bahrain's foreign minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, told reporters in Manama that the army brought down the monument because "it was a bad memory."

"We are not waging war, we are restoring law and order," Khalid said at a press conference in Manama....

Shiites account for 70 percent of the tiny island's half-million people but they are widely excluded from high-level posts and positions in the police and military of the country, whic is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Shiite anger rose sharply around the Mideast on Friday as large crowds in Iran and Iraq cursed Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and its Saudi backers over the violent crackdown on protesters demanding more rights.

Amateur video footage of security forces shooting and beating protesters has spread across the internet and fueled fury in predominantly Shiite Iraq and in Iran, where a senior cleric on Friday urged Bahraini protesters to keep going until victory or death.

"Brothers and sisters" in Bahrain should "resist against the enemy until you die or win," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshippers at Friday prayers at Tehran University, a nationally televised forum seen as expressing the views of Iran's ruling Shiite clergy.

Worshippers chanted angry slogans against Saudi Arabia's royal family, which has sent troops to back Bahrain's king.

"There is no God but Allah, Al Saud is God's enemy," some chanted in Arabic. One Persian banner read, "Death to Al Saud."

Across Iraq, thousands rallied in mostly Shiite cities in the country's largest demonstrations since a wave of dissent spread across the Middle East in the wake of Tunisia's overthrow of its autocratic president.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani — Iraqi-based Shiism's highest ranking cleric in the Mideast — suspended teachings at religious schools across Iraq on Friday in a show of solidarity with the protesters.

A representative of al-Sistani warned during his Friday sermon in the holy city of Karbala that the brutal images of what is happening in Bahrain will inflame passions and lead to sectarian problems in the region.

"I am ready to sacrifice by my soul, blood and money to support and help our brothers in Bahrain," said one protester in Baghdad, Younis al-Moussawi....

The United States bases the 5th Fleet in Bahrain partly to counter Iran's military reach around the region.

At least for now.

Left unmentioned until quite late in this report is the sectarian aspect of the story, as Saudi Arabia is eager to keep a lid on its own, grudgingly tolerated, suppressed Shi'ite minority, Bahrain's Sunni rulers try to keep power over a majority Shi'ite population, and an opportunistic Iran is undoubtedly moving in the background to take advantage however it can.

Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update. "Foreign troops enter Bahrain as protests continue," from CNN, March 14:

(CNN) -- Foreign troops arrived Monday in the strategically and financially important Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain after a month of citizen protests, the Bahraini government said.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain's giant neighbor to the west, appears to have provided at least some of the troops, who arrived under the banner of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In a statement, the government described the troops as "coalition forces" but did not say what countries were represented. Their mission was equally vague: "The GCC Peninsula Shield coalition forces arrived in the Kingdom of Bahrain today following recent events, to help protect the safety of citizens, residents and critical infrastructure," it said.

The Saudi state news agency said its government had responded to Bahrain's request for help in view of the importance of security there.

According to the state news agency of the United Arab Emirates, southwest of Bahrain, it too "decided to send a security force to keep the peace in the Kingdom of Bahrain" at that country's request.

Anwar Mohammed Qerqash, the UAE minister for foreign affairs, described the move as part of his country's responsibility within the Gulf Cooperation Council to bring "security and stability to the region."

It was not clear how many foreign security troops had entered Bahrain. Various parts of the Bahraini government referred CNN questions to other government offices on Monday.

A witness said dozens of armored vehicles and buses full of soldiers crossed Monday afternoon from Saudi Arabia into Bahrain afternoon via the causeway linking the two countries.

The Gulf Cooperation Council comprises six Gulf states -- Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar -- and encourages cooperation among members in a number of areas, including the economy and security.

The movement of forces came on the same day that protesters seized control of a key part of the capital city of Manama, a Human Rights Watch official said.

About 100 demonstrators blocked access to the Bahrain Financial Harbour with barricades such as trash cans and cinderblocks, in effect shutting down the commercial district, Faraz Sanei said. [...]

The underlying concern is that Iran, an overwhelmingly Shiite state, could seize the opportunity to meddle in Bahrain's internal affairs. Bahrain has a Shiite majority population, but its rulers are Sunni.

Saudi Arabia's eastern province is home not only to many of the country's rich oil fields but to its largest concentration of minority Shiite as well. In recent weeks, Shiite demonstrators there have protested the Saudi government, whose leaders are overwhelmingly Sunni.

The Saudi government would presumably be concerned that any uprising by Shiite Muslims in Bahrain could inspire the Shiite population in nearby Saudi Arabia to follow suit.

Actually, the sects in question were Sunnis and Shi'ites, and the former murdered fifteen of the latter for Allah. Or for the cursed Shaytan, depending on your point of view. In either case, for their bloodthirsty god who commands that believers "slay the pagans wherever you find them" (Qur'an 9:5, cf. 2:191, 4:89)

Meanwhile, note that in this Iranian news agency report, the Sunni jihadist mass-murderers were "performing open the fire" on the bus full of Shi'ites. One might forgive the Ahlul Bayt News Agency for mangling this English phrase to make it sound as if the Sunnis were putting on a production of a musical, "Open the Fire." After all, it plays so often in the Islamic world, to enthusiastic packed houses.

"(Updated) 15 parachanari Shia Martyred, Seven Injured in Attack on Bus in Hangu," from Ahlul Bayt News Agency, March 13 (thanks to Twostellas):

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Once again Taliban-Wahabbi Militant’s [sic] have violated Kurram Peace Agreement on Sunday by performing open the fire [sic] on Passenger Coach heading to Peshawar from Parachinar Kurram Agency.

Wahabbi Militants opened fire on a passenger van in a lawless northwestern Pakistani town on Sunday, killing at least 15 Shia Muslims and wounding many others, police said.

The incident took place in Hangu district, 150 kilometres southwest of Peshawar, the capital of insurgency-hit Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.

“Militants intercepted a passenger van at Mamoo Khwar village in Hangu district and opened fire, killing 15 passengers and wounding many others,” said eye witness. The bodies and injured were shifted to hospital. Two more injured succumbed to injuries in the hospital.

Police officials said that “It seems to be a sectarian incident, as all those killed in the firing were Shia Muslims.” They said that the militants, who numbered six, fled the scene but police later launched an operation in the area and killed three rebels....

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

Hope you brought something to read while you wait. Four years later, the Sunni-Shi'ite case of mutual Islamophobia continues -- a major aspect of life in Iraq that was grossly underestimated prior to the war based on faith in what turned out to be a very flimsy veneer of secularism, and in hopes that simply installing a democracy would override centuries-old habits. It should be a cautionary tale.

"Suicide bomber kills 28 and wounds dozens in Iraq," by Sabah al-Bazee for the Associated Press, February 12 (thanks to all who sent this in):

SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber targeting Shi'ite pilgrims killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens near the northern Iraqi city of Samarra on Saturday, the deputy governor of Salahuddin province said.

The attack was the second suicide bombing this week near Samarra, where Shi'ite pilgrims are commemorating the death of one of their 12 revered imams, and followed a series of recent attacks by insurgents as U.S. troops prepare to fully withdraw.

"It was a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest. An Iraqi soldier at the south entrance of Samarra tried to stop him but he immediately blew himself up near a bus terminal filled with pilgrims," Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province told Reuters.

"We were informed by the military leadership of Samarra that 28 people were killed and more than 20 wounded."

A source in Samarra's military operations said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber wearing a vest laden with at least 10 kilograms of explosives.

Raed Ibrahim, head of the provincial health department, said the toll was 33 people killed and more than 50 wounded. A police source at Samarra hospital put the toll at 32 dead and 27 wounded, and said women and children were among the casualties.

Shi'ite pilgrims have been targeted frequently in recent years by a stubborn Sunni insurgency which is still capable of carrying out lethal attacks almost eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

U.S. troops are expected to withdraw by the end of the year....

Answering Muslims (thanks to DC Watson) has a litany of statements blaming this attempted attack on criticism of Islam, including this nugget from Hamas-linked CAIR's Dawud Walid:

"People can be on the edge and when they're exposed to enough negative information about a group of people ... it may be enough to push them over the edge."

In other words: criticism = incitement. A common ploy, and by its twisted logic, he who hath looked critically upon Islam hath committed hate crimes in his heart.

But now, of course, Roger Stockham will magically become just plain nuts and not ideologically driven -- another in a long line of insanity defenses for jihadists on trial. And any claim of his being a few fries short of a halal Happy Meal will automatically qualify him as -- you guessed it -- a Misunderstander of Islam. "Stockham requests new attorney," by J. Patrick Pepper for the Press and Guide, February 5 (thanks to Jeff):

DEARBORN -- The preliminary examination Friday for the man accused of making terrorist threats toward the Islamic Center of America was adjourned until next week.

Attorney Matthew Evans cited a lack of preparation in requesting the adjournment. Evans was thrust into the defender role just minutes before the request, after defendant Roger Stockham rejected his initial court-appointed attorney, Mark Haidar. The rescheduled exam is set for next Friday.

Stockham, a convert to Islam, said in court he wouldn't accept Haidar because -- according to Stockham -- Haidar is a Shi'ite Muslim who worships at the Islamic Center.

"I reject my appointed counsel. He is a Shi'ite and I am not. And he attends the mosque I am attempted of accusing (sic)," he said, before he was cut off by 19th District Judge Mark Somers.

Somers interjected, saying he wanted things to get off on the right foot and subsequently appointed Evans, who was already at the courthouse.

Haidar was not at the hearing. His stand-in, attorney Jeffrey Schwartz, said he was taken by surprise with the comments. He said Haidar is a Muslim, but was not sure if he was Shi'ite or if he worshipped at the Islamic Center.

"I don't know what (Haidar) disclosed to him," Schwartz said. "This kind of caught me by surprise, to be honest."

They can't play the "lost-in-translation" card:

Haidar could not immediately be reached for comment, but credible court sources said Stockham spoke fluent Arabic during their interview and quoted Qur'anic verses.

During the hearing, Schwartz said Haidar instructed him to request a mental competency exam based on his interview of Stockham and Stockham's history of mental illness....

Events in Iraq continue to validate the predictions we made here for years: that a stable democracy would never be founded because of opposition from pro-Sharia forces, that as soon as the Americans left the Sunnis and Shi'ites would be at each other's throats, and more. Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Iraq blast in mainly Shia area killed 2," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, February 3 (thanks to Twostellas):

A roadside bomb explosion has killed two civilians and injured three other people in the eastern Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police and health officials say....

The attack is the latest in a new spate of deadly bombings that have claimed dozens of lives across war-torn Iraq over the recent weeks.

The terrorist attacks have mainly targeted the majority Shia community and Iraqi security forces.

Sporadic high-profile bomb explosions have raised concerns about a rise in violence in Iraq.

They also pose a major challenge to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose coalition government took office last month.

He says it's in retaliation for an earlier Shi'ite attack, which is par for the course: jihadis today always frame their attacks as defensive. This is most likely because in the absence of a caliph, there is no Sunni authority authorized to declare offensive jihad.

Note also that Iran's Ahlul Bayt News Agency, which is run exclusively by Muslims, has no problem translating jihad as "holy war." Apparently the "jihad does not mean holy war" memos that circulate among Islamic spokesmen in America don't make their way to Tehran.

"Yemen al-Qaeda Terrorist commander declares war against Shiite Muslims," from the Ahlul Bayt News Agency, January 29:

Leader of al-Qaeda militants in Yemen declared "Jihad" against the Houthi-led northern Shiite fighters, in an audio message posted on the internet by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on Friday.

Yemen al-Qaeda Terrorist commander declares war against Shiite Muslims(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Leader of al-Qaeda militants in Yemen declared "Jihad" against the Houthi-led northern Shiite fighters, in an audio message posted on the internet by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on Friday.

"To our Wahhabi fellows in northern Yemeni provinces of Saada, Al- Jouf and Amran, we (AQAP) announced jihad (holy war) against Houthi Shiites" Saeed Ali al-Shihri, deputy leader of the Yemen-based AQAP.

"The jihad against northern Shiites has been declared since the implementation of the AQAP's twin killed car bombing attacks against innocent convoys of the Shiite followers in northern provinces of Al-Jouf and Saada on Nov. 24 and Nov. 26 of the last year," he said.

In the 17-minute audiotape, the Saudi fugitive al-Shihri justified his group's war against the Shiite fighters by claiming that the sectarian-motivated Houthis attacked and displaced many Wahhabi militants in the north.

Last December, the Wahhabi-devoted AQAP claimed responsibility for twin suicide car bombings against convoys of the Shiite fighters' followers in northern provinces of Al-Jouf and Saada on Nov. 24 and Nov. 26, 2010, which left over than 90 Shiite followers martyred, including the group's Shiite spiritual leader Bader al-Deen al- Houthi....

Shi'ites then began stoning Iraqi security forces. Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Bomb strikes funeral, killing 41 in Baghdad," by Hamid Ahmed for Associated Press, January 27 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

BAGHDAD - A car bomb ripped through a funeral tent in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 41 people and prompting scuffles between police and Iraqis angry about security failures.

The blast and three other small bombings Thursday were the latest in more than a week of attacks that have killed more than 200 people, raising fears about an uptick in violence as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country.

The violence has mainly targeted the majority Shiite community and Iraqi security forces, posing a major challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his fragile coalition government that was seated last month.

The car that exploded about 2 p.m. Thursday had been parked with the vehicles of other mourners, several yards (meters) away from the funeral tent, so it wouldn't raise suspicion, police said. Several other cars were set ablaze and nearby houses were damaged.

At least 41 people were killed and 75 wounded, according to police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

Young men furious over the lack of security began pelting Iraqi security forces at the scene with stones.

Anger was still high three hours later, and Iraqi troops fired in the air to disperse a crowd of residents gathering for a demonstration against the failure to prevent the bombings. Iraqi helicopters buzzed overhead.....

The current wave of attacks began Jan. 18 with a suicide bombing that killed 65 police recruits in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, followed by two blasts on subsequent days against two security force headquarters in Baqouba that killed a total of 10 people.

The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, claimed responsibility for the three attacks north of Baghdad.

Separate car bombings targeting Shiite pilgrims mourning the death of one of their most beloved saints also killed 82 people, while 22 others were killed in sporadic violence elsewhere....

But, but he fought against al-Qaeda! Doesn't that mean he is a "moderate"? Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Official: Iraq militia chief behind pilgrim blasts," from AP, January 22 (thanks to Maxwell):

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi police arrested the local leader of a government-backed Sunni Muslim militia for planning the deadly bombings on Shiite pilgrims this week, Iraqi officials said Saturday.

If the Awakening Council leader is found guilty of the charges, it would affirm widespread government doubts about integrating the Sunni fighters into the nation's security forces -- despite their alliance with the U.S. against al-Qaida. It could also signal that the militia's frustration about being sidelined by Iraq's Shiite-dominated government may have finally reached a boiling point....

Thursday's triple suicide bombings on the pilgrims outraged Shiite clerics who accused security forces of continually failing to outwit the insurgents and protect the Iraqi people. It also prompted a Sadrist lawmaker to renew offers to reassemble al-Sadr's feared militia that is alleged to have engaged in rampant revenge killings of Sunnis for years....

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

We do see them "overcome that," of course, when they unite against what they can agree on as a bigger infidel than what both sides see as an inauthentic Muslim. "Karbala bombs kill dozens during Shia commemorations," from BBC News, January 20:

Two bomb attacks near the Iraqi city of Karbala have killed at least 50 people and injured more than 150, officials say.

The blasts happened on two routes being used by pilgrims taking part in the Shia Muslim commemorations of Arbaeen.

Earlier, a suicide bomber killed at least three people in the central city of Baquba - the second deadly attack in the city in as many days.

Violence in Iraq has reduced in recent years, but attacks continue.

Thursday's bombings occurred near police checkpoints controlling the northern and southern entrances to Karbala.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are converging on the city from all over the country for the Arbaeen festival, which reaches its climax next week.

The dead include women and children, medical sources at Karbala hospital say.

A witness to one of the attacks, named as Khamas, told the Associated Press news agency: "After the explosion, people started to run in all directions, while wounded people on the ground were screaming for help."

However, he added that pilgrims would continue to head to Karbala: "It will not deter us from continuing our march to the holy shrine... even if the explosions increase."

No group has said it carried out the Karbala bombings, but correspondents say they bear the hallmarks of Sunni militants. [...]

The Karbala attacks came hours after a suicide bomber blew up his car outside police headquarters in Baquba, killing three and wounding about 30.

On Wednesday another suicide bomber in the city targeted a police compound, killing 14.

And on Tuesday in Tikrit, the home town of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, a suicide bomber joined a queue of about 100 police volunteers and killed about 60 of them....

In an area "plagued by sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias." Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Police: 18 van passengers killed after blast in northwest Pakistan," by Reza Sayah for CNN, January 17 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A planted bomb caused a blast that killed at least 18 people traveling in a passenger van in northwest Pakistan Monday, police said.

Around 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of explosives were planted inside the van, police official Islam Ud-Din said....

Earlier Monday, police said 11 people were injured in the blast....

It was not immediately clear why the passenger van was targeted, but the district of Hangu sits in a region plagued by sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias....

Isn't it great that Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange made sure that Oklahoma would be safe for Sharia? The people arrested seem to have committed the crime of being Shi'ites. Sharia Alert from modern, moderate Malaysia: "Malaysia may charge 200 for deviating from Islam," from the Associated Press, December 20 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A Malaysian official says more than 200 people, including Iranians, Indonesians and Pakistanis, detained last week may be charged with breaching Islamic laws.

Nurhamizah Othman of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department says Islamic officials arrested the group, who were allegedly followers of the outlawed Shia sect, in central Selangor state.

And the Iranians are blaming "militant Wahhabi groups," i.e., Saudi Arabia. Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Attacks on Shia Teachers and Schools in Pakistan," from Iran's Ahlul Bayt News Agency, December 17 (thanks to Twostellas):

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Militant Wahhabi groups have been linked to sectarian killings of members of the Shia minority, including Shiite members of the Hazara ethnic community.Between January 2008 and April 2010, at least 76 individuals were killed and 62 injured in suspected sectarian attacks.Among those targeted and killed by militants have been at least 22 teachers and other education personnel.

The most prominent assassination was that of the provincial minister of education, Shafiq Ahmed, in October 2009, for which the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) claimed responsibility.

University professors and grade school teachers in Quetta and Baloch districts have also been attacked.According to government statistics, at least 11 of those who died in targeted killings between January 2008 and April 2010, and 4 of those wounded, were teachers....

The crafty Zionists succeed in perpetrating yet another jihad mass-murder. Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update, with a healthy dose of conspiracy paranoia and Islamic antisemitism: "Suicide bombers kill at least 39 in southeast Iran," by Ali Akbar Dareini for Associated Press, December 15 (thanks to Mackie):

TEHRAN, Iran - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a mosque in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people, including a newborn baby, at a Shiite mourning ceremony, state media reported.

The attack took place outside the Imam Hussein Mosque in the port city of Chahbahar, near the border with Pakistan, the official IRNA news agency said.

The bombers targeted a group of worshippers at a mourning ceremony a day before Ashoura, which commemorates the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.

The "Prophet Muhammad": AP, like all of the mainstream media, has decided that we are all Muslims now.

An armed Sunni militant group called Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on its website. The group has carried out sporadic attacks in Iran's southeast to fight alleged discrimination against the area's Sunni minority in overwhelmingly Shiite Iran.

The group said Wednesday's attack was a second act of revenge for the execution of its leader, Abdulmalik Rigi, in June.

"This operation is a warning to the Iranian regime that it must end its interference in the religious affairs of the Sunnis, stop executions and release the prisoners," said the Internet statement. "Otherwise, martyrdom operations will continue with a stronger forcer [sic]."

One of the attackers detonated a bomb outside the mosque and the other struck from inside a crowd of worshippers, state TV reported. [...]

"Evidence and the kind of equipment used suggest that the terrorists were affiliated with extremist ... groups backed by the U.S. and intelligence services of some regional states," Abdollahi was quoted as saying by state TV.

Iranian officials claim Jundallah, which has operated from bases in Pakistan, receives support from Western powers, including the United States. Washington denies any links to the group, and in November the State Department added Jundallah to a U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

President Barack Obama condemned the attack and said the United States stands with the loved ones of those killed and with the Iranian people.

"This and other similar acts of terrorism recognize no religious, political or national boundaries. The United States condemns all acts of terrorism wherever they occur," Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said the bombing sought to sow discord among Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

"The aim of the terrorists ... is to sow discord among Shiites and Sunnis," he said. "Such actions can be done only by the Zionist regime and the U.S."...

Of course! Who else?

Yet another holy and sacred mass-murder in Pakistan. Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "10 killed in blast at Pakistan hospital," from AP, December 10 (thanks to Twostellas):

PESHAWAR: A car bomb exploded outside a hospital for Shiite Muslims that is under construction in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 10 people, police said....

The attack comes just a day after the start of the holy month of Muharram, which is especially important for Shiites but is often marred by bomb attacks.

Hangu is especially known for attacks by extremist Sunni militant groups aimed at Shiites. The town is effectively segregated between the Muslims of the two sects, with each having their own markets, hospitals and schools....

Sunni snake asks Useful Idiot Infidel to do its dirty work vs. Shi'ite snake. "Saudi king urged US to attack Iran: leaked documents," from AFP, November 28 (thanks to Banafsheh):

PARIS (AFP) - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme, according to US documents leaked by WikiLeaks and published Sunday by daily newspapers.

According to a leaked US cable, published by the New York Times, King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz made the call during an April 2008 meeting with US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and US General David Petraeus.

"He told you to 'cut off the head of the snake'," Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, told the US embassy in Riyadh two days after the high-level talks, according to the State Department memo.

"The King, Foreign Minister, Prince Muqrin, and Prince Nayif all agreed that the Kingdom needs to cooperate with the US on resisting and rolling back Iranian influence and subversion in Iraq," the memo said.

"The King was particularly adamant on this point, and it was echoed by the senior princes as well. Al-Jubeir recalled the King's frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program." [...]

The leaked memo could prove embarrassing to Saudi Arabia, which, while known to be nervous of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions, has not publicly called for Western military action against its powerful neighbour.

Reacting to the leaks, a Saudi government advisor who asked not to be identified told AFP: "The whole thing is very negative. It's not good for confidence-building."...

"Confidence-building" among whom?

Sunnis and Shi'ites hate each other, but hate the Infidel even more. "Shiite deal gives militants new Afghan access," by Kathy Gannon for Associated Press, November 27 (thanks to JCB):

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Shiite Muslim militias in Pakistan's tribal regions are helping some of NATOs fiercest enemies evade missile attacks from U.S. drones to cross safely into Afghanistan, a tribal activist told The Associated Press.

Shiites, who control a key piece of tribal real estate, cut a deal with the deadly Haqqani network to give insurgents a safe, alternative route to Afghanistan through Pakistan's Kurram tribal region, said Munir Bangash, who is familiar with the deal. A second tribesman from Kurram confirmed the deal but spoke only on condition of anonymity fearing retribution from the Taliban and from fellow tribesmen.

The deal underlines the problems of shutting down the Haqqani network's access to its bases in Afghanistan from its refuges in Pakistan.

The Haqqani network is blamed for many of the deadliest attacks on US troops in Afghanistan. Washington has been pressing Pakistan to launch a military operation against the Haqqani network in North Waziristan but so far the military has held back, saying its 140,000 soldiers deployed across the tribal belt are already stretched too thin.

Analysts and Afghan government officials have accused Pakistan of protecting the Haqqani network as allies who could be of use after the Americans and their allies leave Afghanistan. [...]

The Shiite militias had to turn to the Haqqanis to strike a deal "because they are so strong. No one else is as strong," Bangash said....

While Kurram's Sunnis have come under Taliban sway, its Shiites have come under the influence of two local militias called Hezbollah and the Mehdi militia -- unrelated to the militant groups of the same name in Lebanon and Iraq, respectively -- Bangash said.

"The Shiites are held hostage to the Hezbollah and Mehdi militias, like the Sunnis are held hostage to the Taliban," said Bangash....

So the Misunderstanders of Islam are in control.

Yeah, but don't forget those cartoons of Muhammad! "Qaida claims Baghdad attacks on Shiites," from AP, November 5 (thanks to Maxwell):

BAGHDAD - Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for 91 deaths in a string of attacks on Baghdad's Shiite districts....

The group's statement was posted Friday on a militant website. It says the assault Tuesday on Shiite civilians at restaurants and cafes across the capital was "the first day of many bloody days to come."

The Islamic State of Iraq is an umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgent factions.

The group this week also threatened more attacks on Christians, after it took responsibility for a shocking siege at a Baghdad church during Sunday Mass that left 58 people dead.

Actually, surprisingly enough, it was Sunni mujahedin. Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Series of rapid-fire blasts in Iraq kills 76," by Rebecca Santana for Associated Press, November 2:

BAGHDAD - Rapid-fire bombings and mortar strikes in mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad killed 76 people and wounded nearly 200 on Tuesday, calling into question the ability of Iraqi security forces to protect the capital.

The blasts -- at least 13 separate attacks -- came just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead. Tuesday morning, hundreds of Christians gathered at a downtown church to mourn their lost brethren.

"They murdered us today and on Sunday, they killed our brother, the Christians," said Hussein al-Saiedi, a 26-year-old resident of the Shiite slum of Sadr City where 21 people were killed in the most deadly incident of the day. He said he was talking to friends on a busy street, when the blast occurred.

"We were just standing on the street when we heard a loud noise, and then saw smoke and pieces of cars, falling from the sky," he said. People were fleeing the site in panic, frantically calling the names of their relatives and friends. "They (the government) say the situation is under control. Where is their control?"...

Bahrain's King has identified Shi'ite clerics, and specifically their preaching in mosques, as a source of political dissent and unrest. Without making any comment at all on the legitimacy or lack thereof of Shi'ite political dissent in Bahrain, it is worth noting that he doesn't hesitate to target mosques and Islamic preaching as a factor in political questions regarding his regime. Yet in the United States, it would be unthinkable to consider mosques as having anything to do with anything political. So the question must be asked: is the political character of Shi'ite mosques in Bahrain incidental to their religious character, or is it a manifestation of an element of both Shi'ite and Sunni Islam that will appear elsewhere in other forms that are still nonetheless political?

"Bahrain revokes citizenship of top Shiite cleric," by Brian Murphy for Associated Press, September 20 (thanks to Block Ness):

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Bahrain's king warned that mosques would be key targets in sweeps against suspected Shiite dissent in his tiny Gulf nation and vital U.S. ally. The first blow was a big one: stripping the citizenship of a powerful Shiite cleric with close ties to Iraq before next month's parliamentary elections....

Bahrain's move on Sunday against Ayatollah Hussein al-Najati -- the Bahraini representative of Iraq's most powerful Shiite figure -- is the strongest swipe against the nation's Shiite clergy. But it was clear something was coming.

In a blunt message last month, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said "religious forums" would come under scrutiny by authorities. This was an unmistakable reference to Shiite religious leaders seen as fueling the clashes and demonstrations that began in August after security forces arrested a top Shiite political activist....

Al-Najati was born in Bahrain and did religious studies in Iraq and Iran. He and his family obtained Bahraini nationality in 2001 under King Hamad's reforms....

Just hours before the decision on al-Najati, Bahraini officials reportedly issued a two-week ban on sermons by another prominent Shiite cleric, Sheik Abdul Jaleel al-Miqdad, who has denounced the arrests against Shiites....

Islamophobia!