On 22 September 2013, a twin suicide bombing took place at All Saints Church in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, in which 127 people were killed and more than 250 injured. It was the deadliest attack on the Christian minority in the history of Pakistan.

Bombs

The two suicide bombers shot two security guards, killing one and injuring the other. Stopped by the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

, one of the bombers

detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...

d his device. The second bomber entered the church and detonated the bomb inside. Another account tells that the suicide bomb blast occurred when the worshippers assembled for a free meal of rice near the front lawn of the church. There were holes in the walls of the church and the windows of the nearby buildings were shattered by the intensity of the blasts. Bodies of the attackers were successfully identified and sent for examination. Their suicide vests were made with of explosives inside.

Perpetrators of the attack

The

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...

-linked Islamist group Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack. They said that the attack on Christians and non-Muslims will continue because they are the enemies of Islam and that they will not stop until US drone attacks in Pakistan cease. However, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan denied any involvement in the incident and denied having any links with the perpetrators, saying that their affiliate is Jundul Hafsa, not Jundallah.

Response of Pakistani Christians

Christians residing near the church went to the streets and started protesting by

burning tires Tire fires are events that involve the combustion of large quantities of tires, usually waste tires, typically in locations where they are stored, dumped, or processed. They exist in two forms: as fast-burning events, leading to almost immediat ...

and shouting slogans. Many shops were shut in the Kohati Gate area, which is home to many other churches. There were protest rallies in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

and other cities to condemn the killing. There were also clashes reported in Karachi between angry protestors and police. Christian communities in Pakistan lamented "the dying future for Christians in Pakistan" given this was another in a series of recent attacks. In March, hundreds of Christians were persecuted by Islamic

zealot The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Je ...

s over allegations of blasphemy against Islam, a crime under Pakistani law.

Reactions

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

condemned the attack and said

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

s have no religion and that targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam.

References

{{Persecution of Christians in Pakistan 2013 murders in Pakistan Church bombing 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan Attacks on buildings and structures in 2013 Church bombing Attacks on churches in Asia Attacks on religious buildings and structures in Pakistan Islamic terrorism in Pakistan Islamic terrorist incidents in 2013 Jundallah (Pakistan) attacks Mass murder in 2013 Church bombing Persecution of Christians in Pakistan September 2013 crimes in Asia September 2013 events in Pakistan Suicide bombings in 2013

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2013 Building bombings in Pakistan Church bombings by Islamists

Bombs

Perpetrators of the attack

Response of Pakistani Christians

Reactions

See also

References