Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan


Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan is a Shia militant organisation and a former political party based in Pakistan that was formed in 1993 or 1994 as a response to sectarian violence against Pakistani Shia Muslims orchestrated by Deobandi militant movement such as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. On August 14, 2001, it was banned by President Pervez Musharraf as a terrorist organisation.

History

Shia leader Maulana Mureed Abbas Yazdani formed Sipa-e-Muhammad Pakistan in 1993; it is believed to be armed wing of Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan. It is involved in assassination of Sipah-e-Sahaba-linked sectarian clerics and other figures that are responsible for the ongoing anti-Shia violence in Pakistan. It is accused of killing of central leadership of Sipa-e-Sahabah starting from Haq Nawaz Jhangvi to recent assassinations in Karachi and Rawalpindi. Its headquarters is in Thokar Niaz Beg, Lahore and its leader was Ghulam Raza Naqvi who was imprisoned in 1996 and released in 2014. Since his death in 2016, it is unclear who leads the group.

Activities

Sipah-e-Muhammad's primary aim was to target the sectarian leadership of the banned terrorist Deobandi militia Sipah-e-Sahaba or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. However, with the subsequent rise in the violence against Shia Muslims, it was thought to be reforming.
The movement was strong in various Shia communities in Pakistan, and in the majority Shia town of Thokar Niaz Beg ran a "virtual state within a state" in the 1990s.

Affiliations

Sipah-e-Muhammad is alleged to have ties with the Iran.

Designation as a terrorist organization

The Government of Pakistan designated Sipah-e-Muhammad a terrorist organization in 2002; it is classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under U.S. law. As a result, its finances are blocked worldwide by the U.S government.