PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 31 – The assassination of a Christian pastor in the city of Peshawar has rekindled fears among local believers and brought back fond memories of the bloody Pakistani attacks on civilians in the same city.
Gunmen shot dead Pastor William Siraj and wounded another Christian pastor as they left a Sunday church service at a small church on the outskirts of Peshawar. Learn more
“We felt insecure before.
The service, attended by hundreds of mourners, was held at the British All Saints Church in Peshawar – the site of the twin suicide bombing that killed scores of believers in 2013.
After the bombing, a small Christian community set up a small clever church on the outskirts of Peshawar in 2014 – naming it “Martyrs of the All Saints Church” in commemoration of the attack.
Siraj was directed to them shortly after attending a Sunday Mass at the memorial church, located on a thick brick-lined road surrounded by the indecent houses of the local Christian community – many of whom moved there after the 2013 suicide bombings.
The community near the memorial church has served as a place of comfort for many who have lost friends and family during the suicide attack, and who are struggling to move on with their lives.
“We are poor people and we work late into the night in the city and then come home very late at night,” said Waheed Masih, 36, who lives across the church, where Siraj was often.
“The killings … have caused panic and no one wants to leave their homes for fear and dread,” he added.
No one has blamed Siraj for the attack so far, but this comes amid a spate of Islamic militant attacks in Pakistan, mostly Muslim, especially near the western border of Afghanistan.
Protestant bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz, who also attended Siraj’s funeral service, told Reuters he had asked the district police chief to arrange for Christian ministers to be given extra protection and to be more vigilant in their Sunday services.
Religious minorities in Pakistan continue to face violence as authorities fail to provide adequate protection or arrest perpetrators, Human Rights Watch said in a report released this month.