1988 Gilgit massacre

The 1988 Gilgit massacre was a mass killing of Shia civilians in the Gilgit District of Pakistan over a dispute about the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid al-Fitr.

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, local Sunni tribal leaders, tribal elders, and militant commanders led an armed group of local Sunni tribesmen from Chilas, Sunni militants from Afghanistan as well as Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province mostly from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, allegedly accompanied by the Pakistan Army or Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts into Gilgit City and 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.