Bomb Attacks in Peshawar, Pakistan Target Christians, 140 Dead
Sunday, September 22, in Pakistan, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up just outside of a 130-year-old church following mass, killing 81 people. Since, there have been ongoing attacks against Christian men and women.
Nineteenth-century All Saints Church in Peshawar was the site of the blast. Besides the 80 souls that were lost, at least 40 others were injured in an incident that is widely considered to be the deadliest attack on Christians in a predominantly Muslim Asian country. Witnesses stated that one bomber tried to attack the people, but when he was stopped by the police, he detonated, and the other carried out the action from inside of the church. Following the explosion, the body parts and organs of some of the victims were allegedly stolen by local paramedics and criminal gangs for profit.
The Christian minority (2.5 million in a county of 182 million) was outraged by the incident, and many took to the streets in demonstration, some attacking police as businesses shut down. Though, demonstrations and protests gave opposing groups more opportunities to attack them, groups of masked men appearing and beating the Christians.
That following Friday, 19 people died when a bomb planted on a bus carrying government employees went off, and that next Sunday, 40 died when a car bomb exploded, rattling a busy street in Peshawar. The bombs claimed the lives of 140 individuals, total.
While it's hasn't been confirmed that the last two bombings were orchestrated by the anti-Christian Sunni militant group, Jundullah, who claimed responsibility for the church attack, stating that it was done to avenge the deaths of Muslims murdered by U.S. drone strikes, it is being speculated.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government agents have said that they would like to negotiate with the Taliban, insisting that they lay down their weapons and stop bloodshed. A spokesman for the Taliban responded that they would not speak with Sharif until he was able to make his own decisions, and stopped following U.S. policy.