A twin suicide bombing
killed more than 70 people at a church service
in northwest Pakistan on Sunday in what is
believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians
in the country. The two attackers struck at the end of a service
at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which has
borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency
in recent years. Doctor Arshad Javed of Peshawar’s Lady
Reading Hospital told AFP that 72 people had
been killed and more than 100 wounded. Provincial health minister Shaukat Ali Yousufzai
confirmed the death toll and told AFP the
provincial government had announced a three-
day period of mourning in the state. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
condemned the “cruel” attack, saying it violated
the tenets of Islam. Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar’s most
senior officials, told reporters the bombers
struck when the service had just ended. “Most of the wounded are in critical condition,”
Anees said. “We are in an area which is a target of terrorism
and within that area there was a special
security arrangement for the church. We are in a
rescue phase and once it is over we will
investigate what went wrong.” Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul
Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem
Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest
ever targeting Christians in Pakistan. The small and largely impoverished Christian
community suffers discrimination in the
overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation but
bombings against them are extremely rare. Schoolteacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service
had just ended and at least 400 worshippers
were greeting each other when there was a
huge explosion. “A huge blast threw me on the floor and as
soon as I regained my senses, a second blast
took place and I saw wounded people
everywhere,” Khan told AFP. An AFP reporter saw shreds of human flesh and
bloodstains on the walls and floor of the
church, whose windows had been ripped apart
by the blast. Pages of a Bible were scattered near the altar
and rice meals mingled with dust on the floor
amid shattered benches. Walls were gouged
with ball bearings used in the explosives, he
said. Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand
Trunk Road highway with bodies of the victims
to protest against the killings, an AFP reporter
said. Christians in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and other
cities also staged protest rallies to condemn the
killings and demand state protection for their
lives and properties, AFP reporters said. In the southern port city of Karachi angry
protesters clashed with police when they tried
to clear a road in Isa Nagri, a low-income
Christian neighbourhood. Pakistan’s Ulema Council, an association of
leading Muslim scholars, strongly condemned
the church attack and said killing innocent
people breaches the tenets of Islam. “It is an extremely shameful attack which has
shamed all Pakistanis and Muslims,” Allama
Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chief of the council,
told AFP. “There is no room for such terrorist acts in
Islam.” Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and
minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan.
Sunday’s attack will fuel fears the already
beleaguered Christian community could be
increasingly targeted. Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of
bombings targeting security forces and minority
Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but
attacks on Christians have previously largely
been confined to grenade attacks and
occasional riots. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative
province bordering the tribal districts along the
Afghan frontier which are home to Taliban and
Al-Qaeda militants. Provincial lawmaker Ghauri said there were
about 200,000 Christians in the province, of
whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar. “Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan
will fear for their lives,” he warned. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly
condemned the bombings. “Terrorists have no religion and targeting
innocent people is against the teachings of Islam
and all religions,” he said in a statement. Sharif said such “cruel acts of terrorism reflect
the brutality and inhumane mindset of the
terrorists”. Only around two percent of Pakistan’s
population of 180 million are Christian. The
community complains of growing discrimination. The US Commission on International Religious
Freedom has warned that the risk to Pakistan’s
minorities has reached crisis levels. Christians have a precarious existence in
Pakistan, often living in slum-like “colonies”
cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of
allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject
that can provoke outbursts of public violence. In the town of Gojra in Punjab province in 2009,
a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven
people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic
holy book the Koran had been desecrated
during a Christian marriage ceremony. Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl who was arrested
for alleged blasphemy last year, fled to Canada
with her family in June after the charges were
dropped.
killed more than 70 people at a church service
in northwest Pakistan on Sunday in what is
believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians
in the country. The two attackers struck at the end of a service
at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which has
borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency
in recent years. Doctor Arshad Javed of Peshawar’s Lady
Reading Hospital told AFP that 72 people had
been killed and more than 100 wounded. Provincial health minister Shaukat Ali Yousufzai
confirmed the death toll and told AFP the
provincial government had announced a three-
day period of mourning in the state. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
condemned the “cruel” attack, saying it violated
the tenets of Islam. Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar’s most
senior officials, told reporters the bombers
struck when the service had just ended. “Most of the wounded are in critical condition,”
Anees said. “We are in an area which is a target of terrorism
and within that area there was a special
security arrangement for the church. We are in a
rescue phase and once it is over we will
investigate what went wrong.” Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul
Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem
Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest
ever targeting Christians in Pakistan. The small and largely impoverished Christian
community suffers discrimination in the
overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation but
bombings against them are extremely rare. Schoolteacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service
had just ended and at least 400 worshippers
were greeting each other when there was a
huge explosion. “A huge blast threw me on the floor and as
soon as I regained my senses, a second blast
took place and I saw wounded people
everywhere,” Khan told AFP. An AFP reporter saw shreds of human flesh and
bloodstains on the walls and floor of the
church, whose windows had been ripped apart
by the blast. Pages of a Bible were scattered near the altar
and rice meals mingled with dust on the floor
amid shattered benches. Walls were gouged
with ball bearings used in the explosives, he
said. Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand
Trunk Road highway with bodies of the victims
to protest against the killings, an AFP reporter
said. Christians in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and other
cities also staged protest rallies to condemn the
killings and demand state protection for their
lives and properties, AFP reporters said. In the southern port city of Karachi angry
protesters clashed with police when they tried
to clear a road in Isa Nagri, a low-income
Christian neighbourhood. Pakistan’s Ulema Council, an association of
leading Muslim scholars, strongly condemned
the church attack and said killing innocent
people breaches the tenets of Islam. “It is an extremely shameful attack which has
shamed all Pakistanis and Muslims,” Allama
Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chief of the council,
told AFP. “There is no room for such terrorist acts in
Islam.” Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and
minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan.
Sunday’s attack will fuel fears the already
beleaguered Christian community could be
increasingly targeted. Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of
bombings targeting security forces and minority
Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but
attacks on Christians have previously largely
been confined to grenade attacks and
occasional riots. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative
province bordering the tribal districts along the
Afghan frontier which are home to Taliban and
Al-Qaeda militants. Provincial lawmaker Ghauri said there were
about 200,000 Christians in the province, of
whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar. “Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan
will fear for their lives,” he warned. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly
condemned the bombings. “Terrorists have no religion and targeting
innocent people is against the teachings of Islam
and all religions,” he said in a statement. Sharif said such “cruel acts of terrorism reflect
the brutality and inhumane mindset of the
terrorists”. Only around two percent of Pakistan’s
population of 180 million are Christian. The
community complains of growing discrimination. The US Commission on International Religious
Freedom has warned that the risk to Pakistan’s
minorities has reached crisis levels. Christians have a precarious existence in
Pakistan, often living in slum-like “colonies”
cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of
allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject
that can provoke outbursts of public violence. In the town of Gojra in Punjab province in 2009,
a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven
people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic
holy book the Koran had been desecrated
during a Christian marriage ceremony. Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl who was arrested
for alleged blasphemy last year, fled to Canada
with her family in June after the charges were
dropped.
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