KARACHI: In a press release issued on Monday, a human rights group urged the government of Pakistan to act swiftly in order to prevent sectarian attacks on Shia Muslims that escalate during Muharram.

In a statement issued from New York, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that in recent years Sunni extremist groups affiliated with the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan have claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed dozens of Shia during Muharram.

“Pakistan’s besieged Shia citizens should be able to participate in Ashura processions without fear of predictable attack while the government just looks on,” HRW country director Ali Dayan Hasan in a statement.

“The Pakistani authorities need to put all necessary security measures in place to protect the Shia population. Arresting extremist group members responsible for past attacks would be an important first step,” the statement added.

The statement recalled attacks by Sunni extremist groups on Ashura processions in Pakistan for the last several years. “In the days before Ashura in 2012, some 30 people were killed and at least 100 were wounded in five attacks. This deadly campaign culminated in a suicide bombing in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan that targeted the Ashura procession, killing at least five people and wounding more than 90 others. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for all of these attacks,” the HRW statement said.

HRW release said that Pakistani Taliban and its affiliates such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have conducted unprecedented attacks in 2013 on the country’s Muslim and non-Muslim religious minorities, claiming responsibility for most major bombings and vowing further violence.

“Human Rights Watch has recorded dozens of attacks on Shia in 2013, including some of the worst attacks on the community in Pakistan’s history. More than 800 Shia have been killed in targeted attacks in Pakistan since 2012, including about 400 so far this year. In the first days of November alone, at least 15 Shia have been killed in several targeted attacks across Pakistan,” the statement said.

The release further said that Sunni militant groups such as the banned Lashkar-e Jhangvi have historically had links to the Pakistani military and its intelligence agencies.

“While the military denies any ongoing links to such groups, Lashkar-e Jhangvi continues to operate with impunity even in areas where state authority is well established, such as Punjab province and Karachi.”

“Pakistan’s federal government and the respective provincial governments should promptly apprehend and appropriately prosecute those responsible for the attacks in November and other crimes targeting the Shia population,” the statement said.