Secular Politicians Targeted By Taliban Terrorists In Pakistan

Secular Politicians Targeted By Taliban Terrorists In Pakistan

Taliban militants targeted more than secular politician in Pakistan but managed to kill only one after they issued threats where they said they will attack all secular groups in the upcoming elections scheduled on the 11th of May.

Pakistan’s three main secular parties, who formed the coalition government that ran the country since the 2008 elections, said that they are at a huge disadvantage because of the threats, not being able to properly campaign and to appear in public for fear of attacks that could endanger both them and their supporters' lives.

The Taliban assumed responsibility for the killing of Fakhrul Islam this Thursday. He was running for the Sindh provincial parliament representing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement or MQM, one of Pakistan’s leading secular parties.

The 11 May elections will see a new national government as well as local governments for the four regions of Pakistan. The country is being run now by a neutral interim government that secular parties say isn’t doing enough to protect them and their supporters.

The Pakistani Taliban are associated with al Qaeda but function independently. They are aiding conservative and religious parties by allowing them to easily stage their election events.

Thursday’s attack took place while the secular politician Islam Fakhrul was riding a motorbike to his office.

Posted by James Fried on Friday April 12 2013, 3:02 AM EST. Ref: WSJ. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0