Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Ahmedi guards protecting an Ahmedi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan on April 30, 2013. Ahmedis are reviled by mainstream Muslims as heretics because they believe a prophet followed Mohammed, defying the basic tenet of Islam that says Mohammed is the last prophet.

Lahore, Pakistan — In majority Muslim Pakistan, religious minorities say democracy is killing them.

Intolerance has been on the rise for the past five years under Pakistan's democratically elected government because of the growing violence of Islamic radicals, who are then courted by political parties, say many in the country's communities of Shiite Muslims, Christians, Hindus and other minorities.

On Saturday, the country will elect a new parliament, marking the first time one elected government is replaced by another in the history of Pakistan, which over its 66-year existence has repeatedly seen military rule. But minorities are not celebrating. Some of the fiercest Islamic extremists are candidates in the vote, and minorities say even the mainstream political parties pander to radicals to get votes, often campaigning side-by-side with well-known militants.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Ahmedis praying in their mosque, which displays an Arabic sign saying 'In the name of god, people are praying', in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

A Shiite worshipper at a shrine in Jhang on May 1, 2013. Minority Shiites in Pakistan have little hope that the May 11 general elections will help them because they fear Sunni radicals, who have targeted Shiites, could gain political strength.

About 96 percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million is Muslim. Most are Sunni, but according to the CIA Factbook about 10 to 15 percent are members of the Shiite sect. The remaining 4 percent are adherents to other religions such as Christians, Hindus and Ahmedis.

More than a dozen representatives of Pakistan's minorities interviewed by The Associated Press expressed fears the vote will only hand more influence to extremists. Since the 2008 elections, sectarian attacks have been relentless and minorities have found themselves increasingly targeted by radical Islamic militants. Minorities have little faith the new election will change that. Read the full story.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

A Christian woman peering out from inside a church as angry Christians protest the beating of a young man from the Joseph Colony, a Christian neighborhood in Lahore, on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Barber Elias, 25, a Christian who was injured when he was beaten by radical Muslims, in the Joseph Colony in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Christians protesting the beating of a young Christian belonging to the Joseph Colony, in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

A Christian repairing his home after it was attacked by radical Muslims, in the Joseph Colony in Lahore on April 30, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Homeless Hindus sleeping in a shrine cared for by Omparkarh Narian, 55, in Rawalpindi on May 4, 2013.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Asif Hassan / AFP - Getty Images

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

Launch slideshow

Arshad Butt / AP

Pakistani relatives of Saturday's bombing victims mourn next to the bodies in a mosque in Quetta, Pakistan, Feb. 17. Angry residents demanded government protection from an onslaught of attacks against Shiite Muslims a day after scores of people were killed in a massive bombing that a local official said was a sign that security agencies were too scared to do their jobs.

Dozens of people including schoolchildren were killed Saturday in a bomb attack carried out by extremists from Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority, police said.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni group, claimed responsibility for the bomb, which caused casualties in Quetta's main bazaar, a school and a computer center. Police said most of the victims were Shiites.

-- By Gul Yousufzai, Reuters

Read the full story.

Naseer Ahmed / Reuters

A man prepares graves for the burial of victims.

Naseer Ahmed / Reuters

A girl cries during the funeral for victims of Saturday's bomb attack.

Musa Farman / EPA

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier inspects the belongings of a boy at the scene.

Yslb Pak / Zuma Press

Fire rages from destroyed buildings Feb. 16 at the site of the attack.

Naseer Ahmed / Reuters

Smoke rises in a Shiite Muslim area after the attack Feb. 16.

Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets people as he visits the Al-Hussein mosque, named after Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein ibn Ali, in old Cairo on Feb. 5, 2013. Ahmadinejad was both kissed and scolded on Tuesday when he began the first visit to Egypt by an Iranian president since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

CAIRO -- Egypt's security arrested four men who were protesting outside a Cairo mosque, where the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was praying.

The men, including a Syrian, belong to the ultra-conservative Sunni Salafist movement.

One man threw a shoe at Ahmadinejad, a Shiite, who was never in any danger.

The Al-Hussein Mosque is revered by Shiite Muslims, who are widely disliked by conservative Sunni Muslims, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi was previously a member of the Brotherhood.

Many Sunni Muslim groups have denounced the Iranian president’s visit to Cairo and have called on Egypt’s government to prevent Ahmadinejad from visiting any religious sites that are significant to Shiite Muslims.

Ahmadinejad met with Sunni Islam's most senior scholar at Al Azhar shortly before he went to pray at the Al-Hussein Mosque.

Vahid Salemi / AP

A crowd gathers to commemorate Arbaeen in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 3, 2012.

Crowds gathered in Tehran on Thursday for a ceremony commemorating Arbaeen, the final day of the annual 40-day mourning period for the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

--  The Associated Press

Behrouz Mehri / AFP - Getty Images

A Shiite Muslim man beats his chest at Tehran's Grand Bazaar on Jan. 3, 2013 during the Arbaeen religious festival which marks the 40th day after Ashura.

Vahid Salemi / AP

Mourners beat their chests in a ceremony commemorating Arbaeen in Tehran on Jan. 3, 2012.

Hadi Mizban / AP

Neighbors react a day after a bomb blast on Zahra Shiite mosque in the Hurriya neighborhood of Baghdad on Nov. 28, 2012.

Mohammed Ameen / Reuters

A man stands amid debris after a bomb attack in the Shuala district of Baghdad on November 28, 2012. The deadliest of three attacks occurred in the Shuala district, where a car bomb parked outside a Shiite place of worship exploded as people were leaving the building, killing nine.

Reuters reports — Three car bombings killed 23 Shiite Muslims during mourning processions in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Tuesday, police and hospital sources said.

Bombs target Kurds in Iraq's disputed north

Dozens more were injured in the explosions. They struck during the holy month of Ashoura, of special significance to Shiites who are prime targets of al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate and other Sunni Muslim insurgents. Read the full story.

Mohammed Ameen / Reuters

Residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in the Shuala district of Baghdad on Nov. 28, 2012.

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GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains graphic images which some viewers may find disturbing. 

S.sabawoon / EPA

Afghan Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during an Ashoura procession in Kabul on Nov. 24.

Each year during Ashoura, Shiite Muslim men & boys whip their backs with chains and cut their heads with knives, drenching themselves in blood to mourn the loss of one of the faith's most revered figures, Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who was killed in the 7th century battle of Kerbala.

Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters

Shiite Muslim worshippers, covered in their own blood from self-inflicted wounds, hold knives during a procession to mark the Muslim festival of Ashoura in Baghdad's Sadr City on Nov. 24.

Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters

An Iraqi Shiite Muslim child gashes his forehead with a sword during a ceremony marking Ashoura in Baghdad's Sadr City on Nov. 24.

Murad Sezer / Reuters

Turkish Shiite women during an Ashoura procession in Istanbul on Nov. 24.

Dar Yasin / AP

Blood runs down the face of a Kashmiri Shiite Muslim as he participates in a procession in Srinagar, India, on Nov. 24.

Related content:
At renovated Iraq shrine, Shiites mark a holy day

More stories on religious practices on PhotoBlog:

• Hindus worship the sun god as night falls during Chhath Puja
• Tibetan Buddhists perform sacred dances in India
• Coptic Christians seek solace in their faith, while facing turmoil in Egypt

Tribesmen, loyal to the al-Houthi Shi'ite rebel group, perform the traditional Baraa dance in the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada, Yemen on July 12, 2012.

By Khaled Abdullah / Reuters

The mountainous province of Saada is a stronghold for Shiite rebels known as the Houthis. The clan had fought government forces for years until an uprising against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh last year gave them a free hand in the lawless frontier province.

Washington is deepening its involvement in Yemen, using drone strikes to target suspected militants and training the Yemeni army to fight as a counter to the threat of al-Qaeda. The tribal gathering was held to denounce what tribesmen say is U.S. interference in Yemen. Read more about Shia Islam here

Shadows of tribesmen are cast on the ground as they perform the traditional Baraa in the province of Saada, Yemen on July 12, 2012.

A tribesman performs the traditional Baraa dance in the northwestern province of Saada, Yemen on July 12, 2012.

Tribesmen loyal to al-Houthi Shi'ite rebel group perform the traditional Baraa dance in the northwestern province of Saada, Yemen on July 11, 2012.

A boy stands among tribesmen, loyal to the al-Houthi Shi'ite rebel group, gathering in the northwestern Yemeni province of Saada, Yemen on July 11, 2012.

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Alaa Al-Marjani / AP

Two men, standing and second from right, are seen with wax figures depicting Shiite clerics at the wax museum in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, in a picture taken on Feb. 18, 2012 and made available today.

Alaa Al-Marjani / AP

Even before they go on display, the wax figures have become embroiled in controversy.

The Associated Press reports from Najaf, Iraq — An exhibit of wax statues depicting some of Shiite Muslims' most beloved clerics, aimed at paying tribute to this Iraqi holy city's contributions to culture, has been dipped in controversy as some Sunnis decry the figures as heretical.

Even before the exhibit opens, some Sunni Muslims - rarely shy about highlighting their religious differences with Shiites - are denouncing them as a violation of Islamic law. Even some Shiite clerics are a bit leery.

Some Muslim clerics of both sects interpret Islamic law as forbidding most depictions of people and even animals in art or other likenesses. They believe such likenesses could be perceived as false idols and, therefore, taboo. Read the full story.

Alaa Al-Marjani / AP

The exhibit is the brainchild of Sheik Ali Mirza, a Shiite cleric. He says the figures are so lifelike visitors sometimes "raise their hands to salute the statues as if they were alive."

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Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images

Twelve-year-old Tarana Akbari after visiting her sister who was wounded in a bomb attack against Shiite Muslims, in a hospital in Kabul on Dec, 8. Akbari was photographed crying surrounded by injured and dead relatives after surviving a bomb blast on Dec. 6 near a shrine on the Shiite holy day of Ashura. Afghanistan said the death toll from bombings targeting the Shiite Muslim holy day of Ashura, which raised fears the nation could face an eruption of sectarian violence, has climbed to 80. The twin blasts have prompted fears that Afghanistan could see the sort of sectarian violence that has pitched Shiite against Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Pakistan.

Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images

Twelve-year-old Tarana Akbari kisses her grandfather's hand as she walks on the yard with the help of her uncle (right) outside her home in Kabul on Dec. 10.

By now, you may have already seen the photo of Tarana Akbari reacting as she is surrounded by the bodies of her relatives, victims of a suicide bombing on a Shiite Muslim shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan on Dec. 6. The photo of the 12-year-old girl in her bright green dress, covered in blood became the defining image of the day's attacks, which resulted in the deaths of over 70 people, both young and old. It appeared the next day on the front pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

We now know her story. Akbari spoke about her experience to Agence France Presse, recounting the horror and fear she felt last Tuesday. That morning, she especially chose her custom-made, bright green dress for the occasion of Ashura; green is a holy color in Islam. She says:

Suddenly there was an explosion. It was as if the world had overturned, as if all the walls had collapsed on me. Little by little, I started to recognize my relatives. I screamed and I was watching as they died.

Akbari lost seven relatives in the attacks, including her 7 year-old brother, and her two sisters are still in the hospital. She was also injured, according to the Telegraph, and spent three days in the hospital due to shrapnel wounds. When she went to visit her family's grave, she was walking with a limp.

Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images

Twelve-year-old Tarana Akbari looks on at her family grave yard in Kabul on Dec. 10.

The photographer, Massoud Hossaini, who took the picture of Akbari on Dec. 6, was also interviewed by AFP. When the bomb went off, he instinctively ran in the opposite direction of the fleeing people and ended up in the same spot where the suicide bomber had been, surrounded by dead bodies. Although in a state of shock, he knew he was witnessing something that needed to be documented:

I was hoping just to reflect the real pain to everybody else, to everybody who is watching my photos. Doesn't matter [if] they are Afghans, they are American, they are Muslim, they are Christian, they are whatever. Just wanted that they know what my people are feeling now.

While still haunted by the visions of that day, he felt some solace knowing his image was widely published and helped bring attention to the suffering in Afghanistan.

For more images from Afghanistan, see our slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads.

New York Times

New York Times front page on Wednesday, Dec. 7., 2011.

There were many gruesome images of the death and devastation from yesterday's suicide bombing on a Shiite Muslim shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan. In our PhotoBlog post on the attack, we made the decision not to publish some of the more gory pictures that depicted dead bodies and people with severed limbs.

The New York Times published one of these pictures today at 4-columns on the front page of their paper. We saw this powerful image yesterday, and chose not to publish it at the time because we thought the dead bodies of children would be too disturbing to our readers. The photographer, Massoud Houssaini, was on the scene when the attack took place and was able to make strong images of people immediately reacting to the devastation. According to Houssaini's Twitter account, he sustained a "small injury on his left hand but its ok now." The image is now included in this post, below the graphic warning.

What are your thoughts about the picture? Should we have published it yesterday?

Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images

An Afghan Shia Muslim's cries near dead and injured after explosions during a religious ceremony in the center of Kabul on Dec. 6. At least 60 people were killed in an explosion at a Kabul shrine where Shia Muslims were marking the Day of Ashura Tuesday.

NBC’s Atia Abawi reports from Kabul:

See more images in the slideshow Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads.

Related:

• NYT: Amid a horrific scene, tears
• Washington Post: The Post, NYT and WSJ show same scene of Kabul carnage via different photos