Asia/Pacific

SWAT VALLEY, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Christians and women from different religious backgrounds were anxiously awaiting the end of fresh violence in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province Sunday, November 9, after militants attacked a girls school and kidnapped a father for sending his daughter to school, police said. Since Friday, November 7, fighters, apparently with links to Taliban and al-Qaida groups, blew up a girls’ primary school and a basic health unit in the province's militancy-hit Swat Valley, near the main town of Mangora, Pakistani and Indian media reported. There were apparently no serious injuries in the two attacks. The Taliban have so far destroyed at least 120 schools – 82 girls and 38 boys’ schools – in the province, including Christian run institutions. Taliban militants also kidnapped a person, identified as named Muhammad, apparently for allowing his girl to study. There were no immediate reports of his whereabouts. Christians have been reeling from other attacks, including last month, when Taliban militants bombed a Catholic-run girls’ school in Swat Valley. CONVENT GIRLS The militants attacked the Convent Girls’ School in Sangota, run by the Presentation Sisters, a Catholic religious order that has opened girls’ schools around the world. Christians said militants had threatened the school frequently for offering education to females.Fighting also continued between government forces and militants in North-West Frontier Province, injuring at least five civilians and several soldiers since Friday, November 7, authorities said. The clashes followed several suicide attacks this week, in which at least a dozen tribesmen loyal to the central government were killed. Aid workers and other foreigners have also been caught up in the fighting. The Polish Foreign Ministry said efforts were underway to free a Polish engineer kidnapped September 28, some 200 kilometers south of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. The kidnappers reportedly killed his three accompanying guards.POLE ALIVE"We have new information, which we cannot present at the moment, but which proves that the Pole is alive. We can never be sure that all the information we receive guarantees a 100 percent certainty," added Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski in a statement. A video recording appeared on television in mid October, with the Pole appealing to Pakistani authorities to fulfill the demands of the kidnappers, including the release of jailed Taliban fighters. Taliban and al-Qaida militants are battling against the Western-backed government of Pakistan and have made clear they want to establish a state based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law, which would include a ban on education for girls. END

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- A key leader of China's rapidly growing underground house church movement who disappeared last month, was free Saturday, November 8, after Chinese authorities released him and other family members, Chinese Christians confirmed. Pastor 'Bike' Zhang Mingxuan, his wife and her sister were released October 27 from detention in the city of Nanyang in China's Henan province, said China Aid Association (CAA), a Christian rights group. "It is believed that the three were being held to prevent them from attending the third anniversary of the Chinese House Church Alliance which was held in Beijing on October 20," CAA added. Pastor Bike, who leads the Alliance and also works as an evangelist, was reportedly one of some 300 delegates invited to attend the celebration. "Because of police harassment," only about 100 delegates reached the Chinese capital, Chinese sources said. Pastor Bike was first detained on October 16, after his sons, Zhang Jian and Zhang Chuang, were beaten by police and his wife was evicted from their apartment, US and other officials explained. WOMEN DETAINEDThe two woman were brought to Nanyang city, while Pastor was held in the PSB office of Shilin city of Yunnan province, allegedly with some 15 PSB officers watching and questioning him.Although the pastor and his family, including his sons, are now free to move in Nanyang city, theystill suffer of harsh police treatment, CAA claimed. Especially his two sons "are still recovering from their injuries," the group said. Yet Pastor Bike's younger son, Zhang Chuang, has been ordered by his landlord to leave his Beijing apartment, Christians said. "The landlord has been under pressure from PSB officers to formally evict Zhang Chuang to force him permanently out of Beijing," CAA noted. Zhang Jian, Pastor Bike's oldest son, was evicted from his apartment immediately following the October 16 police attack. CAA linked the crackdown to a government backed directive which requires Beijing citizens to "report those engaging in activities that endanger state security by utilizing religions." China's Communist government has denied human rights abuses, saying Christians are free to worship within the state-run churches. END

BARNEVELD, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- International Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio (TWR) confirmed Friday, November 7, that it has secretly distributed thousands of radio receivers in North Korea, one of the world's most isolated Communist nations.

KHAR/BAJAUR, PAKISTAN (BosNewsLife)-- Minority Christians and other residents in northwest Pakistan braced for more violence Friday, November 7, after suicide bombers killed at least a dozen pro-government Pakistani tribesmen and security forces in two major attacks, government officials told BosNewsLife.