At least five pro-Taliban militants have appeared in court for their role in a potentially devastating attack on a Shia mosque located on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad.
The militants including a female suspect appeared before an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Saturday. Judicial sources said the court remanded the top militants in police custody at least for 14 days, the daily Dawn reported.
Sources say they are senior members of a death squad of a pro-Taliban and anti-Shia terrorist group that has carried out several terrorist attacks across Pakistan over the past few years.
The developments come more than a week after security guards shot and killed an attacker who attempted to force his way into a Shia mosque on the edge of the Pakistani capital Islamabad in early August. The militant intended to target worshippers who were praying on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Local security officials said the anti-Shia bomber was killed before he could set off his explosives. Local media reports said at least one guard was killed and two others injured in an exchange of fire with the bomber before he was shot dead.
The court action comes at a time when the country is grappling with growing wave of violence and militancy.
The pro-Taliban anti-Shia groups have launched a violent campaign against the Shia Muslims across Pakistan.
Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province, has witnessed several instances of violence directed against the Hazara Shia community in recent months.
Several Shia religious gatherings have also been targeted in central province of Punjab and southern province of Sindh over the past months.
Shia Muslims in Pakistan say the government must take decisive action against the forces involved in the targeted killings. They also accuse Islamabad of failing to provide security for the Muslim community.
The countryâ„¢s Shia leaders have called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the bloodshed.
Shias make up about one third of Pakistanâ„¢s population of over 180 million.
JR/SS
Republished from: Press TV