Roundup: Unarmed civilians being targeted by armed insurgents in Pakistan

Pakistani armed insurgents are now targeting civilians after security forces killed hundreds of their comrades and ended their control of their stronghold in parts of the country's semi-autonomous tribal regions.

After the savage killing of 140 schoolchildren and 10 teachers in Peshawar city on Dec. 16, a bomb attack killed nearly 60 Shiite Muslims inside a mosque in southern Sindh province. The worshipers were targeted as they lined up to listen to prayer leader's sermon minutes ahead of Friday prayers.

The banned groups have now adopted a new technique to choose relatively peaceful and far-flung areas to carry out attacks like they did on Friday in Shikarpur, a district some 520 kilometers from Karachi, capital of Sindh province.

It is widely believed that the militant groups are now involved in revenge attacks for their defeat in the tribal regions. They were either killed or expelled from their last stronghold of North Waziristan following a major military offensive. The army said security forces have cleared about 90 percent of the area, including the main towns of Miranshah and Mir Ali since the operation was launched in June.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and dozens of splinter armed groups had been almost in control of North Waziristan before the military offensive. They had been using the region as their major base and jumped-off point in their suicide attacks in Pakistan. Several would-be bombers, who were captured alive, had admitted that they had received training in North Waziristan, one of Pakistan's seven tribal regions.

The security forces had earlier defeated the Taliban militants in other tribal areas including South Waziristan, Bajaur, Khyber and Mohmand tribal regions as well as in Swat valley. The Taliban and other armed groups had been in control of most parts of these areas since 2008 but the authorities are now in command of these areas.

The military offensives have badly damaged the capability of the armed groups to challenge the government's security forces and now they have resorted to hit unarmed civilians in peaceful areas where there is a lack of security protection.

This has prompted the authorities to focus their attention on providing security to vulnerable areas, particularly in mosques frequented by Shiite worshippers.

The banned militant group Jundullah reportedly claimed responsibility for the brutal attack whose victims were mostly civilians, including children. The group, having links with the Taliban, is known for targeting Shiite Muslims in the country. The group had also claimed responsibility for several previous sectarian attacks.

The Jundullah group was formed in 2007 mainly to target Shiite Muslims in southwestern Balochistan province. The group was also blamed for attacks across the border into Iran.

Ahmed Marwat, who claimed responsibility for the mosque attack in Shikarpur, is a senior commander of the group who has been tagged as the mastermind in other attacks in Shiite-dominated tribal regions and northern areas. Marwat spent some time in Balochistan and later moved to North Waziristan and linked the group with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The group had later developed some differences with the former Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in November 2013. The group had established contacts with a splinter Taliban group and al-Qaeda.

The group had also been active in northern area of Gilgit, Kurram agency, North and South Waziristan tribal agencies.

Some people who know Jundullah have said that it was the same group that operated in Balochistan and launched attacks in Iran. The group had also been involved in some attacks targeting foreigners in Pakistan.

The group had claimed responsibility for attacks on the tourist camp in northern Pakistan and the massacre of Shias in buses in Gilgit, the intelligence office in Sukkur in Sindh province, two attacks against top religious leader Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman. It routinely claims responsibility for sectarian attacks against the Shias in Balochistan. Endi