Author Topic: Suicide bombers kill 77 at Pakistan church  (Read 942 times)

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Offline mountaineer

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Suicide bombers kill 77 at Pakistan church
« on: September 22, 2013, 12:35:36 pm »
Suicide bomb attack kills 60 at Pakistan church
Associated Press
September 22, 2013, 5:09 a.m.

 
PESHAWAR, Pakistan  — A pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosives outside a historic church in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing over 60 people in the deadliest-ever attack on the country's Christian minority, officials said.

The bombing in Peshawar, which wounded 120 people, underlines the threat posed by Islamic extremists as the government seeks a peace deal with domestic Taliban militants. It will likely intensify criticism from those who believe that negotiating peace with militants is a mistake.

 The attack occurred as hundreds of worshipers were coming out of the church in the city's Kohati Gate district after services to get a free meal of rice offered on the front lawn, said a top government administrator, Sahibzada Anees.

“There were blasts and there was hell for all of us,” said Nazir John, who was at the church with at least 400 other worshipers. “When I got my senses back, I found nothing but smoke, dust, blood and screaming people. I saw severed body parts and blood all around.”

Survivors wailed and hugged one another. The white walls of the All Saints Church were pocked with holes caused by ball bearings or other metal objects contained in the bombs to cause maximum damage. Blood stained the floor and was spattered on the walls. Plates filled with rice were scattered across the ground.

The attack was carried out by a pair of suicide bombers who detonated their explosives almost simultaneously, said police officer Shafqat Malik. Authorities found their body parts and were trying to determine their age, he said.

The blasts killed more than 60 people and wounded 120, said Arshad Javed, top health official at the hospital in Peshawar where the victims were being treated. The dead included several women and children, said Sher Ali Khan, another doctor at the hospital.

The number of casualties was so high that the hospital was running out of caskets for the dead and beds for the wounded, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a former information minister of surrounding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who was on the scene.

“What have we done wrong to these people'” asked one of the wounded, John Tariq, referring to the attackers. “Why are we being killed?”

Tariq's father was killed by the blasts, he said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will likely fall on one of the country's many Islamic militant groups. Islamic militants have been blamed for previous attacks on the Muslim country's Christian minority, as well as Muslim groups they consider heretics.

“This is the deadliest attack against Christians in our country,” said Irfan Jamil,  bishop of the eastern city of Lahore.

The bishop in Peshawar, Sarfarz Hemphray, announced a three-day mourning period and blamed the government and security agencies for failing to protect the country's Christians.

“If the government shows will, it can control this terrorism,” said Hemphray. “We have been asking authorities to enhance security, but they haven't paid any heed.”

Hundreds of Christians burned tires in the street in the southern city of Karachi to protest the bombing.

“Although the government claims they are with minorities, we are being victimized,” said one of the protesters, Tariq Masih. “We need justice.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack in a statement sent to reporters, saying, “The terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions.

“Such cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists,” he said.

Islamic militants have carried out dozens of attacks across the country since Sharif took office in June, even though he has made clear that he believes a peace deal with one of the largest groups, the Pakistani Taliban, is the best way to tamp down violence in the country.

Pakistan's major political parties endorsed Sharif's call for negotiations earlier this month. But the Taliban have said the government must release militant prisoners and begin pulling troops out of the northwest tribal region that serves as their sanctuary before they will begin talks.

There are many critics of peace talks, who point out that past deals with the Taliban have fallen apart and simply given the militants time to regroup. Supporters say negotiations are the only way forward since military operations against the Taliban in the tribal region have failed to subdue them.

The U.S. has repeatedly demanded that Pakistan take stronger action against Islamic militants in the country, especially members of the Afghan Taliban who use the nation as a base to carry out cross-border attacks on American troops in Afghanistan.

The U.S. has targeted Taliban militants and their allies in Pakistan's tribal region using missiles fired from unmanned drones. The latest attack came Sunday when missiles hit a pair of adjacent compounds in the North Waziristan tribal area, killing six suspected militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Pakistani officials regularly decry the drone attacks as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but the government is known to have secretly supported some of the strikes in the past, especially ones that have targeted Pakistani Taliban militants at war with the state.

The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are allies but have focused their fight on opposite sides of the border.
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Offline mountaineer

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Re: Suicide bombers kill 77 at Pakistan church
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2013, 12:38:42 pm »
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Offline Cincinnatus

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Re: Suicide bombers kill 77 at Pakistan church
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2013, 05:38:39 pm »
The Religion of Peace strikes again.

Quote
A blast at a Protestant church in northwest Pakistan killed 77 people and wounded more than 120, a local official said.

The attack took place at the All Saints Church of Pakistan, in the violence-plagued city of Peshawar, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the country's capital, Islamabad.

Two attackers struck right as services concluded, according to the Peshawar Diocese. "Suicide bombers entered the church compound from the main gate and blew themselves up in the midst of the people," a statement posted on the diocese website read.

Choir members and children attending Sunday school are among the dead, they said.

The outside of the church was peppered with debris, and crowds of men and rescue officials covered in blood.

The Rev Humphrey S. Peters, Bishop of Peshawar, expressed condolences and called for prayers, but also struck a defiant tone. In a statement, Peters condemned the local government, calling the attack a "total failure" of official efforts to protect minorities.

Christians make up less than 3% of the population in the South Asian nation of 193 million.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and in a statement said he was praying for the recovery of those injured. Sharif said terrorists have "no religion" and that targeting innocents is against Islam.

But Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which Peshawar is the capital, is rife with Islamic extremists and has been the site of clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/22/world/asia/pakistan-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 [emphasis added]

There are two things I am fairly sure of: (1) These folks were not watching a football game during services; and, (2) our beloved President will not acknowledge this event even if children are among the dead.

God rest their souls and bring comfort to their loved ones and the survivors.
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid ~~ Samuel Adams

Offline flowers

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Re: Suicide bombers kill 77 at Pakistan church
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2013, 06:16:48 pm »
I am positive I missed the White House statement condemning this horrific attack on Christians.   

is a sarc tag needed?


Oceander

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Re: Suicide bombers kill 77 at Pakistan church
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2013, 07:42:45 pm »
I am positive I missed the White House statement condemning this horrific attack on Christians.   

is a sarc tag needed?

I must have missed it too.