Ahmadiyya Muslim killed in apparent sectarian attack in Taunsa, Pakistan

An Ahmadi Muslim man has been shot dead by four attackers on a motorbike in Taunsa, a city in the south of Punjab province of Pakistan. 37 year old Ikramullah was in the pharmacy that he owned when four gunmen on motorbikes stormed the store and opened fire. Ikramullah was shot several times and one of the bullets went through his skull. 

Ch Muhammad Ali, Former Professor and Poet, dies at 98

Literary icon and former Professor Chaudhry Mohammad Ali passed away on Friday, 14th August at his home in Rabwah. He was 98. Ali was born in “Maseetan” a small village in the Firozpur district of Punjab in 1917.He did his M.A. from Government College Lahore and went on to teach at Punjab University where he was a member of the University Senate and Academic Council. He also taught at F.C. College Lahore and served as the President of the Philosophy …

Pakistan Police kill three terrorists linked to banned Sunni militant group ASWJ

At least three suspected terrorists were killed late Wednesday night in an alleged police encounter, while two managed to escape. According to a police spokesman, policemen were taking two men Muhammad Hanif and Raja Iftikhar Ahmad accused of orchestrating attacks on Ahmadiyya Mosques, to recover hidden arms, when four to five armed men opened fire at the police party on Indus Highway near Taunsa Bypass.

Pakistan police kill leader of banned Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi

Pakistani police say they have shot dead Malik Ishaq, the leader of banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Ishaq, who had been detained last week, was in a prison convoy in Punjab province when supporters opened fire in an attempt to free him, said police. They said Ishaq was killed in a gun fight along with his two sons and 11 militants in Muzaffargarh district.

US Embassy employee gunned down in Pakistan

Police say gunmen have killed a local employee of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, though a motive for the attack is still unclear. Police identified the dead employee as Iqbal Baig, saying he worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. They say Baig was killed early Sunday morning at his home.

The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion

In this path-breaking new work, Ali Usman Qasmi, assistant professor at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences) traces the history of the political exclusion of the Ahmadiyya religious minority in Pakistan. According to a recent assessment of state persecution in Pakistan, the excommunicated Ahmadi community lost 39 members through murder in three years (2012-15). Forty Ahmadis were injured after assault and six were kidnapped. Eight Ahmadi graveyards were desecrated, 10 “places of worship” damaged, while harassment occurred in 11 cases. …

Pakistan’s 15-year-old record-breaker struggles to find university place

The brightest 15-year-old in the world can’t find a place at university because she’s too young. Sitara Brooj Akbar moved from Rabwah, Pakistan to the UAE last year after breaking international records in passing examinations. She is the youngest pupil to reach the top level, Band 9, in the International English Language Testing System. IELTS Band 9 qualifies her as an “expert user” of English, with “full operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding”.

Pakistan arrests Taliban responsible for Ahmadiyya Mosque attack

Taliban militants who attacked a Mosque of the minority Ahmadiyya community last week in Pakistan’s Punjab province have been arrested and arms, suicide jackets were seized from them, police said. Four terrorists had attacked ‘Baitul Salat Mosque’, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Taunsa Sharif, some 350 kilometres from Lahore, on July 11, Dera Ghazi Khan district police officer Ghulam Mubashar Maikin told reporters. During the attack on the Mosque a policeman deployed there was also shot, while the terrorists …

Policeman fatally shot while guarding Ahmadiyya Mosque

Gunmen shot and critically injured a policeman an Ahmadiyya Mosque in Southern Punjab on Saturday, also taking away his gun. The incident took place outside Ahmadiyya Mosque on College Road. The critically injured policeman, Irshad Hussain was taken to Tehsil Hospital Tounsa and then rushed to Nishtar hospital in Multan. “Police have registered a case with clauses of terrorism,” said an official, adding that police have rejected the possibility of any personal feud.

Malaysian Department of Islamic Affairs (JAIS) threatens Ahmadis with arrest

Malaysian State of Selangor’s religious enforcers have threatened several followers of the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim Community with arrests in order to compel them to appear in the Shariah court to continue a trial that has been postponed twice since last year. According to the Ahmadis, the Selangor Department of Islamic Affairs (JAIS) is preparing arrest warrants to force 39 of its members ― three of them minors ― to appear before the Islamic courts, consequently violating a civil High Court …

Ahmadiyya in Pakistani village fear for their lives

CHAKWAL: On a first visit, one only notices the calm which engulfs the sleepy village of Pichnand, located some 90 kilometres from the district capital, in Talagang tehsil. Most of its 24,000 residents earn their livelihood from agriculture and cattle farming. And walking through the quiet winding streets of the village, it is hard to tell that underneath the calm, simmer religious tensions with extremism on the rise in the Talagang tehsil, 45 kilometres from Chakwal. New blasphemy cases are …

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community condemns attack on Ismaili community in Pakistan

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has condemned the killing of 45 Shia Ismaili Muslims who were shot dead on Wednesday by militants in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi. In a shocking assault, gunmen in police uniforms stormed into a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community – a minority Shiite Muslim sect and shot the passengers. The statement released by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community condemned the attack on the Islamili Community in Karachi, Pakistan. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the …