1988 Gilgit massacre

The 1988 Gilgit massacre was the mass killing of Shia civilians in the Gilgit District of Pakistan. The massacre was preceded by anti-Shia riots in early May 1988, which were caused by a dispute over the sighting of the moon for Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan between Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims. Local Sunnis, who were still fasting for Ramadan, had attacked the local Shias who had announced their commencement of Eid celebrations in Gilgit City, leading to violent clashes between the two sects.

In response to the riots, the Pakistan Army under president Zia-ul-Haq led an armed group of local Sunni tribesmen from Chilas, accompanied by Osama bin Laden-led Sunni militants from Afghanistan as well as Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (mostly from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas), accompanied by Sunni Pakistani policemen from the NWFP police, went into Gilgit and the adjoining areas in order to suppress the revolt. It is estimated that anywhere between 150 and 700 Shia Muslims were killed in the resulting massacre and violence, in which entire villages were also burnt down. The massacre also saw the mass rape of hundreds of Shia Muslim women by Sunni tribesmen and militants.