Bahrain

Some two-thirds of the population in the Gulf island state are Shia Muslims, who are ruled by the Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa family. Complaining of discrimination and the lack of democracy, Shia protesters took to the streets in February, 2011, following uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

In Bahrain, however, a Saudi-led initiative by the Sunni alliance known as the Gulf Cooperation Council dispatched troops and tanks to safeguard the al-Khalifa rulers. The forces remain in Bahrain, overseeing an uneasy calm.

Population: 1.2 million

66 to 70 per cent are Shia

Politically dominant religious group: Sunni

Afghanistan

Persecution of Hazara Shiites led many to seek refuge in Baluchistan, now a province of Pakistan, in the second half of the 19 century. The rise of the puritanical Taliban in the 1990s led to several attacks on Afghanistan’s remaining Shiites, considered heretics by the Sunni Taliban.

The U.S. defeat of the Taliban in 2002 led to an eight-year calm for the Hazara people that was shattered by a series of deadly attacks in the past two years. In December, 2011, for example, on the Shia day of mourning known as Ashura, some 60 Shiites were killed by bombs triggered at Shia shrines in Kabul. Several other attacks have taken place since then.

Population: 30 million

19 per cent are Shia

Politically dominant religious group: Sunni

Iraq

The 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein unleashed a deadly sectarian war that reached its peak in 2005-07, when thousands of Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis were killed. After that, a relative calm prevailed until two years ago, when attacks on Shia pilgrims resumed in earnest. Often they took place on the occasion of Ashura, the day on which Shiites mourn the 7-century death of Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed in Karbala, Iraq, while fighting for control of the Muslim nation.

This past Sunday, 21 people were killed in a series of bombings in predominantly Shia markets in Baghdad. It was just the latest in an upsurge of violent attacks that now average about three a month. A group known as the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization with links to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the latest and some of the other attacks.

The group claimed its attacks against “these impure filthy infidels” were in response to the Shia government’s “raids and arrests, displacement, killing, humiliation and violation of our women and livelihoods, seizing the land and the wealth of the Sunnis.”

Population: 31 million

60 to 65 per cent are Shia

Politically dominant religious group: Shia

Lebanon

Lebanon’s confessional system of government, in which numerous religious and ethnic groups have representation, was intended to preserve Christian authority and ward off sectarian conflict. It has done neither.

A 15-year civil war (1975-90) pitted Christians against Muslims and paved the way for Shia Muslims to grow in political clout. Today, those Shiites, led by the Iranian-linked political group, Hezbollah, are the power behind the Lebanese government, as well as allies of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

The situation has led to the growing resentment of the country’s Sunni Muslims and a large part of the Christian population.

Population: 4 million

40 per cent are Shia

Politically dominant religious group: Shia

Pakistan

Last year was the bloodiest in modern history for the Shiites of Pakistan – more than 400 were killed in bombings and shooting attacks in 2012. This year, however, looks to be even deadlier: Already, some 200 Shiites, mostly ethnic Hazaras, have been killed. More than 90 were slain in January in twin blasts at a billiard hall in the Baluchistan capital of Quetta, and 89 people, mostly women and children, were killed on Feb. 16 by a massive bomb in a market in one of Quetta’s Shia districts.

The radical Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group claimed responsibility for both Quetta attacks. Lashkar claims that all Shiites are heretics – its website vows to cleanse Quetta of all Hazaras – and last year the group issued a threatening letter telling all Hazaras to leave the city by the end of 2012 or face death.

“It is our religious duty to kill all Shiites and to cleanse Pakistan of this impure nation,” the letter read.

Under pressure from outraged Shia citizens, Pakistani security forces began this week to crack down on the group. (Four people were killed and 170 arrested, authorities said Tuesday.)

Population: 191 million

10 to 15 per cent are Shia

Politically dominant religious group: Sunni

Syria

While originally a product of pro-democracy protests in 2011, Syria’s civil war soon became a full-blown sectarian conflict with the mostly Sunni rebel forces, powered by Salafi jihadists from across the region, determined to drive out the “infidel” Alawites under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad. The battle is killing thousands every month.

Ousting the Assad regime, rebels believe, also will strike a blow against Shia Iran, the Salafists’ ultimate enemy.

Population: 23 million

13 per cent are Alawi

Politically dominant religious group: Alawi

Iran

The Shia homeland, with about 90-per-cent Shia population, rides roughshod over any dissent from other ethnic or religious groups including Kurds, Sunni Muslims and Baha’is.

Population: 79 million

89 per cent is Shia

Politically dominant religious group: Shia