By BosNewsLife Asia Service
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)– Two Christians were recovering Saturday, September 18, after a church in northwestern Pakistan was bombed by suspected Muslim militants, Christians and officials said.
The bomb reportedly exploded Sunday morning local time near the entrance at St. Paul Lutheran Church in the heart of Mardan city. Local officials said the early timing of the September 12 blast prevented more causulties in the otherwise busy area.
The attacked building belongs to the ‘Church of Pakistan’, a Protestant union of the Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, and Presbyterian denominations. Police said they arrested several suspects, but no more details were made available.
ACT OF INTIMIDATION
Rights activists described the attack as an attack of intimidation against the tiny Christian minority in Mardan where over 99 percent of the people are believed to be Sunni Muslim.
“This is just another act of terrorist violence by Taliban groups who wish to dictate and assert their power in this province,” Ghulam Dastagir, coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said in published remarks.
He said local authorities of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, previously known as the North-West Frontier Province, appear unable to halt the attacks against religious minorities.
However, “We should mention that those who organize them are only small groups of extremists working against peace and harmony. In this difficult moment for the country, we are seeing many examples of solidarity, friendship, and mutual aid, which give us hope,” added Farruk Marwin Parvez, Regional Manager of Church World Service, an independent Christian aid group.
