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15 July 2008

KARACHI, PAKISTAN -

A tense calm returned Tuesday, July 15, to the outskirts of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, after several Christians, including a pastor, were injured when Muslim militants stormed a Protestant church during a prayer service.

Witnesses said an angry Muslim mob raided the United Presbyterian Church in the suburb of Noorknan last week, July 10, carrying "swords, daggers and batons" and slogans that included "Infidels!" and "Stop false rituals."

Up to "18 Muslims of the radical  group entered in to the Church and attacked and desecrated the church" and destroyed a Bible and other Christian books placed on the altar, said advocacy group Compassion Asia in a statement .

They allegedly said that the worshipers were "infidels" who "can not stay" in Pakistan as this "is the country of Muslims." The believers were reportedly told to “recant Christianity and become Muslims or be ready to die."

ATTACKING BELIEVERS

Compassion Asia said the mob also attacked believers, seriously injuring Pastor Iqbal Anthony "with daggers and swords." The pastor and several other wounded Christians, including women and girls,  were rushed to hospital with unspecified injuries, local believers said.

This was the second major attack on the church since 2001, Muslim residents backed by local leaders militants destroyed the building. The government of Sindh Province later gave permission to Pastor Anthony to rebuild the church at the same location with support of the congregation.

Following last week's attack, Christians have appealed to the provincial government to take action against Muslim attackers and to beef up security around the church and Christian residential areas. It was not immediately clear Tuesday, July 15, what if any measures had been taken by local authorities. The church attack came amid growing concern over Islamic extremism in Pakistan.

Source: Compassion Asia

 

2/15/08

Muslims Seek Revenge Murder Christian Teenager After Settling Dispute

Amir Saleem, a 13-year-old Christian boy, was murdered by Attiq and

 Sharjeel, Muslim neighbors from a village in Sheikhupura district, on January 11, 2008. Full Story.

For more general information please go to ICC's webpage on Pakistan.

 

2/10/08

 Christian Youth "Kidnapped" for trying to marry Muslim woman.

The father of a Pakistani Christian continued to search for his son (Anneal) who

was allegedly kidnapped two weeks ago by suspected religious extremists, after attempting to marry a Muslim woman. Full Story.

    For more general information please go to ICC's webpage on Pakistan. 

        

01/23/08 Pakistan (ICC) Muslim Radicals Mistakenly Murder Brother of a Pakistani Christian Accused of Blasphemy

Islamic extremists have murdered a man after mistaking him for his brother, who had been accused of blasphemy against Islam. Simon Emmanuel was shot to death after his brother, who has been living in the United States, came home to visit his family. The police tried to cover up the! murder as a suicide. Full Story

For more general information please go to ICC's webpage on Pakistan.

 Pakistani Taleban kidnap five Christians:
 

PESHAWAR:  Suspected militants associated with Commander Baitullah Mahsud on Friday kidnapped five Christians in South Waziristan Agency (SWA), Pakistan's English Daily "The News" has reported.

The story quoted unnamed sources as telling "The News" by telephone from the troubled region that the armed militants stopped a vehicle, which was carrying passengers from Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, (Northern Pakistan, the strong holds of Alqaeda) to D. I. Khan.

Among the passengers, five were Christians, whom the militants took into custody and drove them later towards an undisclosed location.

Local officials of the political administration confirmed the kidnapping and said no effort could be made for their release as the area where they were disembarked from a vehicle was a stronghold of Mahsud tribal militants, (in Afghanistan) it added.

On the other hand, militants affiliated with Baitullah Mahsud made the release of Christians conditional with the freeing of six prominent militants now in custody of law-enforcement agencies. (ANS)

Please pray for the release of these kidnapped Christians.

Altaf

Benazir Bhutto
          Assassinated  Dec. 27, 2007

Bhutto was the only Pakistani politician who had a soft corner in her heart for the (Christian) minority. May God be with her family and give them strength, at this very difficult time of grief .

This has brought us to the point that we can not keep the office of the ministry, in the house. The upper floor of the house is being used as office. According to the recent developments we have to move it away for security reasons. We feel that it should be done soon.


Benazir Bhutto
Assassinated  Dec. 27, 2007

She wanted equal rights for the Christian minority

We have visited some places in the suburbs, that could be safe in the future during the street protests. Please pray for this immediate move, and lift it before the Lord that he takes us to the right location. We believe, that the Lord will provide the required finances needed to buy the property.

Pakistan, is 97% Moslem and there are only 2.5% Christian, under persecution.

foxnews.com

Taliban Tells Pakistani Christians: Convert or Die

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  —  Christians in a Pakistani town beset by pro-Taliban militants sought government protection Wednesday, the eve of a deadline for them to convert to Islam or face violence.

About 500 Pakistani Christians in Charsadda, a town in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, received letters earlier this month telling them to close their churches and convert by Thursday or be the target of "bomb explosions."

Several Christians, a tiny minority in the predominantly Muslim country, have fled town and others are living in fear, community leaders said.

Some complained that police were not taking the threat seriously.

Police say someone is joking with us by writing these letters," Chaudhry Salim, a Charsadda Christian leader, said during a news conference in Islamabad. "They have deployed only two policemen at our churches ... this is the kind of security we are getting now."

Shahbaz Bhatti, a prominent Christian leader and head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said the provincial government, which is controlled by a coalition of pro-Taliban religious parties, would bear blame for attacks after the deadline.(

Bhatti also urged Muslim religious scholars to condemn the threats and said the federal government should take "concrete steps to provide protection" to Christians.

Asif Daudzai, a spokesman for the provincial government, asked Christians not to panic, saying authorities were doing all they could to ensure their protection.

"Christians are our brothers and sisters, and we will not allow any one to harm them," he told The Associated Press.

Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and other religious minorities make up about 3 percent of Pakistan's 160 million residents.

Most live peacefully alongside the Muslim majority, although the groups have been targeted repeatedly in attacks blamed on extremists since the country allied itself with the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Islamic radicals trying to impose Taliban-style social edicts in northwestern Pakistan are growing bolder, bombing shops selling Western films, threatening barbers for trimming beards and warning hotels to remove televisions from guest rooms.

Minorities and secular opposition parties say the government is doing too little to counter the "Talibanization" of growing swaths of the country.

Police say someone is joking with us by writing these letters," Chaudhry Salim, a Charsadda Christian leader, said during a news conference in Islamabad. "They have deployed only two policemen at our churches ... this is the kind of security we are getting now."

Shahbaz Bhatti, a prominent Christian leader and head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said the provincial government, which is controlled by a coalition of pro-Taliban religious parties, would bear blame for attacks after the deadline.(

Bhatti also urged Muslim religious scholars to condemn the threats and said the federal government should take "concrete steps to provide protection" to Christians.

Asif Daudzai, a spokesman for the provincial government, asked Christians not to panic, saying authorities were doing all they could to ensure their protection.

"Christians are our brothers and sisters, and we will not allow any one to harm them," he told The Associated Press.

Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and other religious minorities make up about 3 percent of Pakistan's 160 million residents.

Most live peacefully alongside the Muslim majority, although the groups have been targeted repeatedly in attacks blamed on extremists since the country allied itself with the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Islamic radicals trying to impose Taliban-style social edicts in northwestern Pakistan are growing bolder, bombing shops selling Western films, threatening barbers for trimming beards and warning hotels to remove televisions from guest rooms.

Minorities and secular opposition parties say the government is doing too little to counter the "Talibanization" of growing swaths of the country.

Churches Attacked and Burnt:

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175385,00.html

 

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN MARTYRED:

http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countrynews.php?newscode=411&PHPSESSID=4323625508254623f30d480df3aed0a7

 

TWO  MORE  CHRISTIANS  MARTYRED:

http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countrynews.php?newscode=411&PHPSESSID=4323625508254623f30d480df3aed0a7

http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/newsdetails.php?newsid=523

 

Pa-kis-tani pastor suffers in Australia:

http://www.domini.org/openbook/australia200309012.htm

 

Voice of Martyrs in Pakistan:

http://www.persecution.com.au/news/article.asp?artid=5029A988-78AC-45E5-9251-EE8842339D0D&c=9

http://www.persecution.com/news/index.cfm?action=fullstory&newsID=300

http://www.persecution.com/news/index.cfm?action=fullstory&newsID=296

http://www.domini.org/openbook/unveiling_of_pakistan.htm

http://search.msn.com/results.asp?FORM=sCPN&RS=CHECKED&un=doc&v=1&q=pakistani%20christians

 

Pakistan: No Justice For Pakistani Rape Victims

Court fails to punish perpetrators of gang rape

http://www.persecution.org/news/PR_2002/press2002-05-15.html

Christians besieged in Pakistan

http://washingtontimes.com/world/20030627-092413-5203r.htm 

Churchgoers attacked at Christmas

http://www.evangelical-times.org/ETNews/Feb03/feb03n04.htm 

 

Repots on Terrorism Against Pakistani Christians:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/09/pakistan.attack/index.html

Terrorist attack on Church in Bahawalpur- 17 martyred:

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/10/28/gen.pak.christian.shooting/index.html

Islamabad church attacked- 5 martyred:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/17/pakistan.church/index.html

Murree Christian School attacked:

 http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/05/pakistan.school/index.html

Christian Hospital in Taxila Attacked:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/09/pakistan.attack/index.html

Travel warning in Pakistan:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/12/us.pakistan/index.html

Attack on Christian Hospital Taxila :

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/09/pakistan.hospital/index.html

Seven killed in Karachi Christian raid

http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/25/pakistan.attack/index.html

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US Commission on International Religious Freedom:

http://www.uscirf.com/countries/region/south%5Fasia/pakistan/pakistan.html

 

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http://uscirf.gov/reports/01May01/pakistan.php3

http://uscirf.gov/action_chooseCountry.php3

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2281191.stm

BBC on Pakistani Christian:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/international/christians.shtml

NewsMax.com provided this special message from our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs. They have some important information to share with you.  W deliberately put some spaces in this article to hide it from search engines.

"PARVEZ JAILED UNDER BLASPHEMY ACT—Now Released"

Islamabad:

June 2, 2008

http://inl-images.adbureau.net/inl/accipiter/images/AE0.gif

A suspected suicide bomber has blown up a car outside the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital, killing six people and wounding about 20.

The blast will raise fresh questions about the safety of foreigners in Pakistan even though militant attacks have dropped off since a new government came to power after a February general election vowing to negotiate to end violence.

Danish newspapers infuriated Muslims around the world when they published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in late 2005. The cartoons, considered blasphemous by Muslims, sparked deadly protests in 2006 which included attacks on Danish missions.

The embassy in Islamabad was temporarily shut in 2006 after violent protests over the cartoons.

The blast destroyed the embassy gate and damaged the front of the building and vehicles in the compound in the upmarket district of Islamabad where other missions and diplomats' houses are located.

Police and security officials said all of the dead and wounded were Pakistanis and the bomb was suspected to have been set off by a suicide bomber in a car.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller condemned the attack.

"It's terrible that terrorists commit such acts," he said in an interview on Danish television station TV2 News. "We already were working under a higher security level in Pakistan .... . . It's dangerous. There are fanatics and terrorists out there," he said.

Pakistan went through a wave of suicide bombings in the second half of 2007 and early this year but most of the attacks were on the Pakistani security forces and politicians, including former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, killed in a Dec. 27 attack.

Attacks on foreigners have been rare since several in 2002, but a blast at an Italian restaurant in Islamabad in March killed a Turkish woman and wounded several other foreigners, including some US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

The new government has opened talks with militants through intermediaries.

But the talks have raised questions in the United States and among some of Pakistan's other allies, who fear peace deals in Pakistan will free up Talibans and Al Qaeeda militants to intensify their war against Western troops in Afghanistan.

The blast coincided with an anti-cartoon rally in the city of Multan attended by about 200 people.

After hearing news of the blast, the protesters shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).

"Whoever commits blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad will face more serious consequences than this," said city cleric Intizar Hussain. "If it is a suicide attack, than whoever did it will go to heaven."

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Some pictures of the bomb site:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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