Two Taliban suicide bombers struck a historic church here today, killing at least 70 people, including women and children, in the deadliest attack on the minority Christian community in Pakistan’s history.
Over 120 were injured in the attack on All Saints Church at Kohati Gate area of Peshawar. The bombers set off their explosive vests as people were emerging from Sunday mass, said city Commissioner Sahibzada Muhammad Anis.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Shaukat Yusufzai confirmed that 70 people, including women and children, were killed and 120 others injured. The dead included four children aged between three and eight years and a Muslim policeman.
Anis said some 600 to 700 people were inside the church at the time of the attack. Nearby buildings were damaged by the powerful blasts.
The Jandullah group, a faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out to avenge US drone strikes.
Ahmed Marwat, a spokesman for the group, told Newsweek: “Until and unless drone strikes are stopped, we will continue to strike wherever we find an opportunity against non-Muslims.”
Jandullah earlier claimed responsibility for killing 10 foreign climbers in Gilgit-Baltistan and for an attack on an Inter-Services Intelligence compound in Sukkur.
Bomb Disposal Squad chief Shafqat Mahmood said two bombers carried out the attack. Each suicide vest contained an estimated six kilograms of explosives. Footage on television showed the walls of the church were pitted with ball bearings packed into the vests.
Witnesses said they had seen body parts and bloodstained clothes and shoes lying strewn at the site of the attack.
The horrific attack sparked protests by Christians across the country. In Peshawar, angry Christians blocked several roads with bodies of the dead and burning tyres. They also staged a protest at Lady Reading Hospital, where most of the victims were taken.
This was the worst attack in Pakistan’s history on the Christian minority, which has not been targeted as frequently as other minorities like Shias or Ahmadis.
In March, a Muslim mob attacked a Christian colony in Lahore and torched two churches and over 100 houses.
Christians often find themselves accused under the controversial blasphemy law.
In March 2002, five persons, including three foreigners, were killed and 45 injured when terrorists attacked a church in the diplomatic enclave of Islamabad.