Bahawalpur church shooting

Bahawalpur church shooting was a mass shooting at Saint Dominic's Church in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan on 28 October 2001 by six assailants belonging to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The guard of the church and 17 other Christians were killed.

Bahawalpur church shooting
Part of Religious discrimination in Pakistan
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur (Punjab, Pakistan)
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur (Pakistan)
LocationSaint Dominic's church, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Coordinates29°23′23.92″N 71°39′44.3″E
Date28 October 2001
TargetChristians
Attack type
Mass shooting
WeaponsAK-47s
Deaths18
VictimsChristians and guard of church
AssailantsLashkar-e-Jhangvi
No. of participants
6
MotiveRetaliation to the Afghanistan invasion

Background
Main article: Religious discrimination in Pakistan

Non-Muslims are targeted in Pakistan by extremists. Since Pakistan backed the United States in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, terrorists are targeting Pakistani minorities, especially Christians.[1]

Shooting

Six masked gunmen riding on three motorcycles bring out their AK 47 riffles which they were hiding in their bags and started shooting. At the time, around 100 people were inside church. They first killed the guard of the church at the gate and then entered the church and started firing on worshippers.[2] While shooting, they were chanting slogans, "Afghanistan and Pakistan, graveyard of Christians" and were also chanting "Allah hu Akbar" (God is Great). They fired for 3 minutes, from 08:52 to 08:55 (UTC + 0:500).[3] The assault left 18 people dead.[2]

Reactions

The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf said that he was saddened by killing of Christians and accused trained extremists of the attack.[2]

Two days after the attack, police launched a crackdown and captured 22 suspects.[4] On 28 July 2002, 4 suspects belonging from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi who admitted to have committed the crime, were killed in an ambush.[5]

See also

References
  1. Iqbal, Haider (14 September 2012). "Pakistan after 9/11". Pakistan Today. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. "Christians massacred in Pakistan". BBC News. 28 October 2001. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  3. "Bahawalpur Church carnage 2001, she still fears to speak". Pakistan Christian Post. 10 August 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  4. "Bahawalpur: 18 Christian killed in church attack". Geo Cities. 30 October 2001. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  5. "Church attack suspects die in ambush". The Daily Telegraph. 29 July 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
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