Who is Responsible?

Mapping Responsible Parties of Anti-Shia Violence from January – July 2015

Since the beginning of 2015, Shia Rights Watch has collected data on incidences of anti-shi’ism around the world. By our records and reports there have been a total of 2,959 Shia killed and 3,662 wounded in various bombings, attacks, and shootings in the seven months beginning January 1^st and going until the end of July. Additional incidences of mosques being vandalized or demolished, citizenships being revoked, hate speeches, employment discriminati
on, and abductions have also been reported.

Of these events, various parties have declared responsibility for attacks that have claimed a total of 1,209 lives and left 1,281 wounded. Governments, as well as terror groups, have been responsible for many attacks and were named as responsible parties in instances of citizenship removal, illegal incarcerations, and violent suppression of peaceful attacks.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed thirty of the attacks that have occurred this year and are responsible for over  1,016 of the deaths recorded to date.

The group has claimed two of the largest attacks of 2015: the March 20^th mosque attacks in Sana’a Yemen which resulted in 142 deaths with 350 wounded, and the July 18 bombing of Ramadan celebrations in Diyala, Iraq which resulted in the death of 120 men, women, and children, leaving 130 more wounded. The terrorist group also claimed responsibility for the Kuwait suicide bombings that took place at a Shia mosque as worshippers were gathered for prayer. This attack left 27 dead and 227 wounded. Moreover, on May 28^th a mass grave was discovered in territory former controlled by ISIS. Over 470, mostly Shia, bodies were discovered.

More recently, there have been five bombings in late July that many officials are attributing to ISIS, although nobody from the organization has released a statement confirming their involvement yet. Between July 10 and July 25 there were 4 bombing attacks in Shia neighborhoods in Iraq, as well as a suicide bombing at a crowded swimming pool in Northern Iraq that targeted the Shia Turkmen minority. Combined these attacks left 81 dead and 180 wounded. The method and location of attacks is consistent with previous ISIS attacks and due to the recentness of the events it is too early to rule out ISIS involvement.

In recent months it has become clear that ISIS is one of the primary sources of chaos in the region. However, the Taliban is still very active in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since January 1^st the terrorist group has claimed six attacks. The January 9^th attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi resulted in 7 deaths followed by the February 13^th attack in Peshwar that left 19 dead and 60 wounded. On June 10^th the group abducted nine Shia in Damarda Afghanistan and forty-five days later on July 25^th they kidnapped eighteen more Hazara Shia from Baghlan Afghanistan. Since the second abduction five victims have been released and negotiators are still working to get the rest home safely. While these attacks are heinous in nature the worst of the Taliban attacks occurred on June 20^th as they beheaded six Shia Hazaras in Ajristan, Afghanistan. The New York Times suggests that in light of the growing media attention on ISIS’s attacks, the Taliban is plotting equally shocking attacks in order to gain recognition and media coverage as well.

While incidences of hate speech, discrimination, and forced denouncement of faith have been reported against the Egyptian, Indonesian, Nigerian, Saudi Arabian, and Pakistani governments, the Kingdom of Bahrain is by far the government currently carrying out the most attacks against Shia. 153 Shia protestors have been arrests including Sheikh Ali Salman who was arrested June 16 for tweeting about regime change, opposition leader Majeed Milad who was arrested July 2, and prominent opposition member Ibrahim Sharif who was arrested July 12. By March 11^th there had been 155 recorded instances of mistreated Shia detainees in government custody – a number we expect to have increased since. These arrests all come after the 15 October 2014 death sentence of Shia Sheikh Nimr in Saudi Arabia, whose appeal was denied by Saudi Arabia authorities on March of 2015.

Moreover, The Bahraini government has stripped 72 people of their right to citizenship, 50 of which were confirmed members of the opposition.  Security forces have used violence to suppress at least three large protests resulting in one child being injured due to tear gas exposure as well as a thirteen year old boy being shot in the face by regime forces. Numerous home raids have occurred without cause and upwards of 46 Shia have been beaten. Prominent Bahraini Cleric Jalal al-Sharqi made a public statement on May 12^th that denounced Shi’ism by accusing Shias of not believing in Allah and calling them Jewish and underserving of mercy.

A full list of groups taking responsibility for attacks includes: Al-Nusra Front (1), ASJ-TTP (1), Ahlus Sunnah wal Jammah (2), Bahraini government (18), Bahraini civilian militia (1), Egyptian government (2), Indonesian government (1), ISIS (30), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (1), Judallah (2), Lashkar-e-Jhaqui (1), Madagascar Police (1), Nigerian citizen (1), Nigerian Military (1), Punjab government in Pakistan (1), Saudi Arabian Authorities (2), Saudi-led coalition (10, Sipah-e-Sahaba (4), Somolian Mayor (1), Extremist Militia connected to ISIS (1), Tabliban (6), United Arab Emirates government (1).  This is a list to date of reported and confirmed instances of anti-shi’ism where there is a party clearly responsible for the attack. There are still countless unreported, unconfirmed, or unclaimed attacks that have occurred in the first seven months of 2015.

Date	Responsible Party	details	Dead	Wounded	Arrests
28-Jul	Al-Nusra Front	Shooting at shrine in Damascus	2
7-Feb	ASJ-TTP	Habib Hussain was ambushed and killed	1
6-Jul	ASWJ	Quetta, Pakistan – open fire on 3 Hazara Shia	3	2
7-Jul	ASWJ	Quetta, Pakistan – Syed Hashim (Hazara) gunned down walking home	1
5-Feb	Bahraini Government	72 people stripped of citizenship, 50 confirmed from the Shia Opposition Party
12-Jun	Bahraini Government	57 Shia jailed, stripped of nationality, given sentences of 3 years to life			57
16-Jun	Bahraini Government	Sheikh Ali Salman sentenced to 4 years for tweeting about regime change			1
2-Jul	Bahraini Government	Majeed Milad, senior opposition, arrested because of accusations against the gov’t			1
11-Jul	Bahraini Government	Protest Suppression – tear gas
12-Jul	Bahraini Government	Arrest opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif			1
13-Jul	Bahraini Government	conducted raids in the districts of Karanah and al-Diraz
16-Feb	Bahraini Civilian Militia	Sitra, Bahrain one was arrested for insulting the king			1
12-Jan	Bahraini Government	45 people beaten
30-Jan	Bahraini Government	Regime forces shot 13 year old boy in the face
13-Feb	Bahraini Government	Protest Suppression including 3 home invasions		48	20
17-Feb	Bahraini Government	Protest Suppression: Child received head injury after exposure to tear gas		1
18-Feb	Bahraini Government	1 beaten by government forces
11-Mar	Bahraini Government	Numerous home raids resulted in 15 arrests			15
11-Mar	Bahraini Government	Between Jan 1 and March 11 reports of 155 mistreated detainees
22-Apr	Bahraini Government	91 protesters arrested			91
12-May	Bahraini Government	Jalal al-Sharqi denounced Shia saying they do not believe in Allah, are Jewish, and deserve no mercy
14-May	Bahraini Government	Upheld Nabeel Rajab’s 6 month sentence for insulting public institutions
15-May	Dr. Abdussamael Uma	Doctor in Ayuba Nigeria wrote a letter the Nigerian President warning against Shia
30-Apr	Egyptian Government	Shut down kindergarten in Nile Delta Province for ‘promoting Shia ideology’
12-May	Egyptian Government	Physician sentence to 6 months for blasphemy, attempting to cause sectarian violence, and threatening national security because practicing Shia
11-Mar	Indonesia Government	34 Shia prisoners forced to recant faith
18-Jan	ISIS	Bomb in Tuz, Iraq targeting Shia	13	25
8-Feb	ISIS	ISIS demolishes Shia shrine in Shifaa, Iraq
23-Feb	ISIS	Bombings destroyed 12 Shia homes in Monsul, Iraq
28-Feb	ISIS	Balad Ruz bombing	11	50
28-Feb	ISIS	Sabaa Al Bour mortar shells	3
9-Mar	ISIS	Larkana, Pakistan – vandalized on internal and external buildings
14-Mar	ISIS	27+ bodies discovered in a mass grave near Shia town of Basheer, Iraq	27+
20-Mar	ISIS	Bomb went off in Sanaa Yemen. 3 mosques targeted	142	350
29-Mar	ISIS	beheaded 8 with the aid of child soldi3ers	8
6-Apr	ISIS	2 bodies found in Zabul, Afghanistan	2
8-May	ISIS	Bombing in Balad Ruz	18	41
8-May	ISIS	Car bomb detonated  a worshippers left Imam Hussein mosque in Kanaan Iraq	4	18
8-May	ISIS	Bombing targeting commercial buildings in Hamamiyat neighborhood on Taji, Iraq	2	8
12-May	ISIS	Shia pilgrims targeted throughout the day in Baghdad	15	38
14-May	ISIS	Multiple car bombs around Baghdad targeting Shia	15	42
22-May	ISIS	Bomb at mosque in Qatif, Saudi Arabia as prayers were read	21	80+
22-May	ISIS	Targets 2 Yemeni mosques	13+
24-May	ISIS	Iraqi soldier executed then hung from bridge	1
28-May	ISIS	In former ISIS territory a mass grave with 470 (mostly Shia) bodies	470
29-May	ISIS	Immam Hussein Mosque in Damman, Saudi Arabia. Bomber dressed as woman	4	10
1-Jun	ISIS	Suicide bomber attacks police base in Anbar, Iraq	45	33
7-Jun	ISIS	Idlib, Syria – Air Strike killed 14 + 15 year old girls`	2	10
15-Jun	ISIS	Car bomb in Qahira, Baghdad	10	20
17-Jun	ISIS	4 car bombs targeting Zaydi mosques during evening prayer in Sana’a, Yemen	31
20-Jun	ISIS	Car bomb in Sana’a, Yemen at Qabat al-Mandi mosque	2	6
26-Jun	ISIS	Kuwait suicide bombing at mosque	27	227
8-Jul	ISIS	Car bomb outside mosque in Sana’a, Yemen	1	5
18-Jul	ISIS	Khan Bani Saad, Iraq bombings at a market in Diyala celebrating end of Ramadan	120	130
20-Jul	ISIS	Attack bombing in mosque in Sana’a, Yemen	5	7
29-Jul	ISIS	IED attack on Ismali Mosque in Sana’a Yemen	4	6
16-May	ISIS & Taliban Conflict	Shia police officer shot in Karachi, Pakistan	1
22-Jul	ISIS blamed	al-Shaab car bomb in Iraq	8	22
10-Jul	ISIS blamed	Series of bombs in Baghdad	14	41
12-Jul	ISIS blamed	Series of bombs in Baghdad	29	81
22-Jul	ISIS blamed	Al-Bayaa car bomb in Iraq	18	36
25-Jul	ISIS blamed	Suicide bombers attack busy pool in Northern Iraq targeting Shia Turkmen minority	12
7-Apr	Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan	Beheaded 1 in Afghanistan with aid from Taliban	1
18-Feb	Jundallah	Suicide bomb in Rawalpindi, Pakistan	2	7
30-Jan	Jundullah	Bombing in Islamabad	60	50
7-Jun	Lashkar-e-Jhaqvi	Shooting in Quelta, Pakistan	5
20-Apr	Madagascar Police	Arrested 3 including the head of a Shia mosque for no apparent reason			3
25-Jul	Nigeria military	Military Personnel involved in killing 34 peaceful Shia Protestors	34
2-Mar	Punjab Government	Arrested Shia leader Allama Ghulam Raza in Lahore Pakistan
21-Apr	Saudi Authorities	1 dead in shooting in Qatif, Saudi Arabia	1
15-Jul	Saudi Authorities	Khobar, Saudi Arabia – Shia man arrested and lashed for hosting weekly prayer meeting			1
30-Mar	Saudi-led Coalition	Airstike in Mazraq, Hajja Governorate – no apparent military target in the area	29	41
7-Jan	Sipah-e-Sahaba	Shooting in Karachi, Pakistan	3
31-Jan	Sipah-e-Sahaba	70 year old Shia man in Pakistan shot	1
18-Feb	Sipah-e-Sahaba	Shooting in Karachi Pakistan	2
11-Mar	Sipah-e-Sahaba	Shooting at the Khan Hotel in Kotla Jam, Pakistan		3
5-May	Somalia Mayor	Mayor of Mogadishu denounced Shi’ism and swore to fight the spread at any cost
10-Feb	Extremist Militia connected to ISIS	Bombing in Baghdad	14	43
9-Jan	Taliban	Rawalpindi, Pakistan bombing – attack on a Mosque	7
13-Feb	Taliban	Peshwar, Pakistan – bombing and shooting	19	60
2-Apr	Taliban	Damarda, Afghanistan 9 Shia abducted
20-Apr	Taliban	Beheaded 6 Shia Hazaras in Ajristan, Afghanistan	6
10-Jun	Taliban	Police officer gunned down in Karachi, Pakistan	1
25-Jul	Taliban	18 Hazra Shias kidnapped in Baghlan, Afghanistan. Released 5 already
13-Mar	UAE Government	Deporting 62 Lebanese Shia By:shiarightwatch.org