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Peshawar: A double suicide bombing killed more
than 60 people at a church service in northwest
Pakistan on Sunday, officials said, believed to be
the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled
country.
Pakistan's small and largely impoverished Christian
community suffers discrimination in overwhelmingly
Muslim-majority Pakistan but bombings against
them are extremely rare.
The two bombers struck at the end of a service at
All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town of
northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which
has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency
in recent years.
Doctor Mohammad Iqbal of Peshawar's Lady
Reading Hospital told AFP that 61 people had been
killed and 120 wounded. Fellow doctor Sher Ali
confirmed the numbers.
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.
School teacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had
just ended and at least 400 worshippers were
greeting each other when there was a big explosion.
"A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as
I regained my senses, a second blast took place an
I saw wounded people everywhere," Khan told AFP.
Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk
road highway with bodies of the victims to protest
against the killings, an AFP reporter said.
Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and
minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan
and 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.
Pakistan 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 is largely
poor and 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
sudden 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
Quran had been desecrated during a Christian
marriage ceremony.
Last year a young Christian girl, Rimsha Masih,
spent three weeks in jail after being accused of
blasphemy. The case was thrown out but she and
her family have been in hiding ever since, fearing for
their lives.
Suicide bombers kill more than 60 at Pakistan church
than 60 people at a church service in northwest
Pakistan on Sunday, officials said, believed to be
the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled
country.
Pakistan's small and largely impoverished Christian
community suffers discrimination in overwhelmingly
Muslim-majority Pakistan but bombings against
them are extremely rare.
The two bombers struck at the end of a service at
All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town of
northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which
has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency
in recent years.
Doctor Mohammad Iqbal of Peshawar's Lady
Reading Hospital told AFP that 61 people had been
killed and 120 wounded. Fellow doctor Sher Ali
confirmed the numbers.
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.
School teacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had
just ended and at least 400 worshippers were
greeting each other when there was a big explosion.
"A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as
I regained my senses, a second blast took place an
I saw wounded people everywhere," Khan told AFP.
Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk
road highway with bodies of the victims to protest
against the killings, an AFP reporter said.
Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and
minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan
and 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.
Pakistan 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 is largely
poor and 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
sudden 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
Quran had been desecrated during a Christian
marriage ceremony.
Last year a young Christian girl, Rimsha Masih,
spent three weeks in jail after being accused of
blasphemy. The case was thrown out but she and
her family have been in hiding ever since, fearing for
their lives.
Suicide bombers kill more than 60 at Pakistan church
