Christians Stage Protests on Church Bombing, 80 Buried among Rage: Pakistan
Local Editor
Christians have staged protest rallies across Pakistan to show their anger at a twin bombing outside a church in the country's northwestern city of Peshawar.
At least 78 people died and more than 100 were wounded in the attack which was carried out in the city's Kohati Gate District on Sunday. Two bombs exploded as worshippers were coming out of Sunday services at the historic Pakistan Church.
Protesters took to the streets in several cities including the capital Islamabad as well as Karachi, Lahore and Multan, shouting slogans against the attackers, local media reported. In the southern port city of Karachi, protesters clashed with police and vandalized public property. Several arrests were said to be made.
Reports say that demonstrators in Islamabad blocked the main road to the city's airport. Police forces used tear gas to disperse the angry demonstrators who demanded better protection for their lives and properties.
The demonstrators urged the government to take immediate action against the forces involved in the killings. They said those involved in Peshawar church bombings do not follow any faith and seek to damage inter-faith harmony in the country.
"There are 34 women and seven children among the dead," Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters in Peshawar, adding that the federal government announced a three-day period of mourning.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the "cruel" attack. Pakistan's Ulema Council, an association of leading Muslim scholars, also denounced the deadly assault as "shameful."
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Pakistan entered an alliance with the United States in the so-called war on terror. Thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.
Burials have been taking place in the Pakistani city of Peshawar after the double suicide bombing, thought to be the deadliest ever attack on Pakistan's Christians.
Source: Websites, edited by website team
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