Sacred Space, Familiar Pattern
When an Islamic State affiliate proudly takes credit for slaughtering 31 worshippers and wounding 169 others in a Shiite mosque in Pakistan, it’s not just a horrific isolated incident. It’s a page from a well-worn playbook. FIRST INSTANCE: The Sectarian Divide as a Weapon The intentional exacerbation of sectarian divisions, specifically targeting religious minorities, has a long and sordid
history. While the modern iteration of groups like ISIS emerged later, the strategic utility of sectarian violence to destabilize regions and justify external intervention has roots far deeper. One might point to early Cold War strategies where ethnic or religious cleavages were subtly (or not-so-subtly) exploited to undermine nascent nation-states or weaken Soviet influence. Pakistan itself
experienced engineered sectarian strife dating back to the late 1970s and 80s, intensified by the Soviet-Afghan War and the rise of proxy groups (1979). REPETITIONS: The Echoes of Engineered Chaos 1990s - Pakistan: The 1990s in Pakistan saw a significant rise in sectarian violence, with numerous mosque bombings and targeted killings between Sunni and Shiite groups. Groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,
often with tacit state or external support for their anti-Shiite ideology, were responsible for massacres like the 1997 Mominpura Cemetery bombing in Lahore, killing 25 Shiites. The outcome? Deepened mistrust and communal polarization. 2000s - Iraq: Post-2003 invasion of Iraq, the systematic targeting of Shiite mosques and pilgrims became a signature tactic of groups like Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a