Riaz Basra

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Riaz Basra (1967 - 14 May, 2002) was a Pakistani militant involved in sectarian fighting with Shia elements in Pakistan. Basra founded the militant organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 1996.

Riaz Basra was born in Chak Chah Thandiwala, Sargodha, in 1967. He studied at madrassas in Lahore and Sargodha before joining the militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba in 1985. Basra allegedly served in the Afghan War on the mujahideen side, receiving a bullet wound in the leg. [1]

In 1996, Basra broke from Sipah-e-Sahaba to form his own anti-Shia organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The organization takes its name from the deceased founder of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, who was killed in a retaliatory bomb attack by Shia militants on 23 February, 1990. [2]

Basra was himself killed in a shootout in a Shia village in Vehari district, Punjab.[3] Basra and three other Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members had come to stage an attack on a prominent Shia, but were met with armed resistance by local villagers. A special police brigade arrived to support a half-hour later, ending the fight, during which all four Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members were killed.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Shamsul Islam Naz Basra encounter: a poorly staged drama Dawn (Pakistan), May 17, 2002
  2. ^ Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Terrorist Group of Pakistan South Asian Terrorism Portal.
  3. ^ Police kill Pakistan's most wanted man BBC News, 14 May 2002
  4. ^ Howard D. French For Militant, No Glorified End, but Death in the Dust New York Times, May 19 2002
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