PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) ― Angry Christians protested across Pakistan on Monday to demand better protection after a devastating double suicide bombing at a church killed more than 80 people.
The attack on All Saints church in the northwestern city of Peshawar after a service on Sunday is believed to be the deadliest ever to target the country’s small Christian minority.
Christians demonstrated in towns and cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar, demanding better protection from authorities.
A Muslim man was killed in Karachi when scuffles broke out at a Christian protest outside a mosque, police said.
In the city’s eastern neighborhood of Korangi, police used tear gas and fired aerial gunshots to disperse protesters, who set fire to a house and other properties.
“Some protesters pelted stones at some shops that ignited a brawl and scuffle between the two groups (of Christians and Muslims) who also attacked each other with stones,” police chief Muneer Shaikh told AFP.
“We have arrested 45 suspects who were agitating in the area and the situation is now under control.”
More than 600 protesters blocked a major highway in Islamabad for several hours during the Monday morning rush hour, burning tires and causing long tailbacks, an AFP photographer said, and later about 2,000 people gathered to protest outside parliament.
In Peshawar, about 200 demonstrators took to the streets, smashing windows at the main Lady Reading hospital, where many of the victims were treated, and blocking the main Grand Trunk road.
In front of All Saints church, more than 100 people chanted slogans demanding justice.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
