"Under siege": Pakistan's Hazara minority lives in fear and defiance

High walls around the neighbourhoods of Pakistan’s embattled Hazara community in the southwestern city of Quetta are designed to protect them from extremist militants, but also serve as a constant reminder of the threat they face. By Gul Yousufzai and Akthar Soomro

  • A Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guard as vehicles carry Shia Hazara minority traders to a fruit and vegetable market from their heavily guarded enclave where they live on the outskirts of Quetta (photo: Getty Images/AFP/B. Khan)
  • (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    A Hazara girl wearing traditional jewellery embroiders at a cultural stall during the Hazara Culture Day at the Qayum Papa Stadium in Mariabad, Quetta, Pakistan. The Quetta community was holding its first Hazara Culture Day to celebrate and showcase its history, music and traditions
  • Sardar Sahil, 30-year-old Hazara lawyer and rights activist, eats his breakfast with his mother at his home in Hazara Town, Quetta (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Sardar Sahil, 30-year-old Hazara lawyer and rights activist, eats his breakfast with his mother at his home in Hazara Town, Quetta: "We have been living under siege for more than 1-1/2 decades due to sectarian attacks," said Sahil. "Though all these checkposts were established for our security, we feel we were ourselves have also been cut off from other communities"
  • Sardar Sahil arms himself before leaving the house (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Sahil carries a pistol whenever he leaves home, and relies on his faith as a second layer of security
  • A Hazara girl attends an assembly prayer in Mariabad, Quetta (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Hazaras, said to be descendants of the Mongols who swept out of central Asia to rule the subcontinent for many centuries, are easily distinguishable in Pakistan by their facial features. That has made them vulnerable to attacks by banned groups including the militant Islamic State, which has attacked them in both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, also home to many Hazaras
  • Resident walk past a shop during sunset hours along a street in Mariabad, Quetta(photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Many community businesses that flourished in Quetta’s bustling wholesale markets have shuttered and relocated to Hazara Town or Mari Abad, another Hazara neighbourhood, but the community is defiant. Some still venture out into Quetta in search of work, while others keep businesses running
  • Mohammad Asif Shahyan from the Hazara community, CEO of a Pioneers school (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Mohammad Asif Shahyan from the Hazara community, CEO of a Pioneers school, watches an assembly prayer in Mariabad, Quetta, Pakistan: "I'm a social activist working for the betterment of the society to uplift the youth," Shahyan said
  • Men install Pakistan's national flag on a stall ahead of the Hazara Culture Day celebration at the Qayum Papa Stadium in Mariabad, Quetta (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    The Quetta community held its first Hazara Culture Day to celebrate and showcase its history, music and traditions in 2019
  • Syed Raza Hazara, 18, back flips as he performs Parkour at the Qayum Papa Stadium in Mariabad, Quetta, Pakistan (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Syed Raza Hazara, 18, back flips as he performs parcours at the Qayum Papa Stadium in Mariabad
  • Naveed Ali Hazara, 23, poses for a photograph at a gym in Hazara Town, Quetta (photo: Reuters/A. Soomro)
    Naveed Ali Hazara, 23, poses for a photograph at the gym: "We are doing bodybuilding; firstly to build health and secondly, as sports gives you extra strength and keeps us away from drugs," Naveed said