Pakistan's embattled Christian
community suffered the most deadly
attack in its history on Sunday when a
pair of Taliban suicide bombers blew
themselves up inside a church in the
troubled city of Peshawar, killing 81
and wounding about 140.
The midday attack on the historic
church was one of the most lethal
aimed at civilians in Peshawar, a city
that has been repeatedly struck by
militant groups who control swaths of
the nearby tribal areas.
Explosions ripped through the
congregation of 500 people, including
many women and children, as the
service at All Saints church was coming
to an end and worshippers were about
to receive a free meal of rice in the
courtyard outside.
Witnesses said the interior of the 130-
year-old building was turned into a
bloodbath, with severed limbs scattered
around and the walls pockmarked with
ball bearings used as shrapnel by the
bombers.
"I saw myself in the air and then on
the ground inside a huge fire of ball,"
said Sabir John, a worshipper who lost
one of his arms in the blast.
An official from the provincial bomb
squad said there was evidence of two
suicide bombers, each carrying about
6kg of explosives. With a limited
number of weekend staff, the city's
main hospital was overwhelmed by
casualties. There were fears that some
would die of their injuries as they lay
unattended on stretchers outside the
emergency ward.
Dr Arshad Javed, chief executive of the
Lady Reading hospital, said: "I have
never seen such piles of human bodies.
The exact number of the blast victims
cannot be ascertained as yet."
Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali
Khan said on Sunday 78 confirmed
dead included 34 women and seven
children, Associated Press reported.
Another 37 children were among the
wounded, he said. A further three
people died of their wounds overnight.
Distraught relatives were blocked from
entering the hospital to look for family
members by police. Some previous
suicide bombings have been followed
up with attacks on victims after they
have been rushed to hospital.
Christians in Peshawar reacted with
fury. Protesters outside the church
chanted slogans attacking the provincial
government for not providing security
to worshippers. Some clashed with
police, ripping off their uniforms and
burning them in front of television
cameras. Christians also came out to
protest in cities around the country.
The Jundullah wing of the Pakistani
Taliban claimed responsibility. A
spokesman said: "They are the enemies
of Islam, therefore we target them. We
will continue our attacks on non-
Muslims on Pakistani land."
The highly unusual attack on Christian
worshippers was reminiscent of a series
of brutal bombings against large
gatherings of Shias, a minority Muslim
sect reviled as heretics by some militant
groups. Until now Pakistan's Christian
minority, thought to be about 2% of the
near 200 million population, have been
spared such attacks, though five people
were killed by a grenade attack in 2002
on a church in Islamabad frequented
by foreigners.
Christians, who tend to be among the
poorest sections of society, have
suffered prejudice and sporadic bouts
of mob violence and church burnings,
usually triggered by accusations of anti-
Islam blasphemy.
Sunday's attack is likely to be seen as
yet another sign of the growing threat
from Pakistan's fast-evolving network
of militant groups, which include
sectarian terrorists, anti-India groups
and a homegrown strain of the Taliban
influenced by al-Qaida ideology. It
could further undermine hopes of a
negotiated peace settlement with
militants.
An agreement struck earlier in
September by leading political parties
gave the green light to the government
to hold talks with militants, but it did
not lead to any reduction in attacks.
Counter-terror analysts believe the
peace initiative is doomed to fail
because the violent fundamentalists
ravaging the country reject Pakistan's
government and constitution as un-
Islamic.
On Sunday three days of mourning
were announced as politicians and
religious leaders condemned the attack.
"Terrorists have no religion and
targeting innocent people is against the
teachings of Islam and all religions,"
said the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif,
in a statement. "Cruel acts of terrorism
reflect the brutality and inhumane
mindset of the terrorists."
Imran Khan, the politician whose party
leads the provincial government in
Peshawar, rushed to the city from the
capital, Islamabad.
Talking to journalists outside the
hospital he said the attack was a
deliberate scheme to scupper peace
talks. "Isn't it strange that whenever
peace talks are pursued, these attacks
take place, and I want to point out that
there was also a drone strike today," he
said in reference to a strike by an
unmanned US aircraft that killed six
suspected militants in North Waziristan
on Sunday. Khan has long blamed the
CIA's drone campaign as the root cause
of Pakistan's current unrest, a position
decried by his critics who say militancy
and extremism long pre-date drones
and the US-led intervention in
Afghanistan.
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