President Hamed Karzai did not mince words as he met reporters after visiting the victims at the hospital. The Afghans are concerned that for the first time in the Afghan history an important day like Ashura was used for drawing blood of unarmed worshipers. The suicide bombing of Abu Fazl shrine not only highlights the hatred of perpetrators’ for the people of Afghanistan but also their contempt of Islam, as Karzai put it.
The stamp of LeJ was visible on the strike even before it acknowledged the feat. This is bound to deepen mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad at a time when Afghan leadership is increasingly upset at the way Pakistan has been trying to exploit Kabul even matters like fuel and other essential supplies.
President Karzai said the obvious when he told a reporter that he would be calling on Islamabad to explain the bombing. “Certainly we will discuss this issue with the government of Pakistan and we will talk to them.
He went on, “Lashkar-e Jhangvi is located in Pakistan and took the responsibility, and the government of Afghanistan, with all its strength and power and with the support of the international community, will pursue this issue. Otherwise the blood shed by our children will have no meaning.”
Strong words by all means but these echo the anger of the families of the victims who have no doubt that Pakistan was behind the planning and execution of the bombing. A 32 –year-old woman, with injuries on her throat, is searching for 30 of her relatives who had gone to the Abu Fazl shrine. She heard seven of then had been killed and others were battling for life in various hospitals. Crying bitterly, she added “Pakistan is our enemy. All these things are down to Pakistan. I hope God destroys them!”
Afghans have long been blaming Pakistan for their Taliban troubles and also for trying to exert political and economic power over Kabul.
Now the entry of Lashkar-e-Janghvi on the scene is no more than an attempt to create religious divisions. It has close ties with the ISI, the Inter Services Intelligence, manned and managed by Pakistan army, with no civilian control whatsoever. Only ten days ago, the US aircraft attacked Pakistan’s border post and killed 26 soldiers. Kabul shrine bombing is ISI’s response in a manner of speaking and it signals to the United States the continued relevance of Pakistan where its matters most to Washington.
Will the December 6 attack lead to religious polarization in Afghanistan? At least in the short to medium term it may not going by the history of the country. But it will certainly force the Shia minority to leave in fear of the unknown, like in Pakistan, where also LeJ has been targeting the Shia minority
