Unrest in Gilgit

Unrest in Gilgit: Mosques, imambargahs sealed

By Ibrahim Shahid

GILIGT: The Northern Areas administration has sealed the main imambargahs and mosques in Gilgit and arrested top Shia and Sunni leaders, following clashes between security forces and Shias in which 10 people have died.

Home Secretary Capt (r) Sardar Abbas said that the action was taken under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in view of the deteriorating security situation and that four Sunni and four Shia clerics had been arrested.

Police sources said that there was no violence in the city on Saturday as a curfew entered its third day. Iqbal Haider, general secretary of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, voiced concern on Saturday that the curfew was making it difficult for people to get food and fuel. The sources said that about 600 Shias from Nagar subdivision gathered at Haraspoo Dass and blocked the Karakoram Highway for several hours. They demanded immediate replacement of the Rangers in Gilgit, saying they were hostile to the Shia community and were not performing their duties impartially.