Bahawalpur church shooting

Bahawalpur church shooting
Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Punjab, Pakistan) Show map of Punjab, Pakistan Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan
Location	St. Dominic's Church, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Coordinates	29°23′23.92″N71°39′44.3″E / 29.3899778°N 71.662306°E / 29.3899778; 71.662306
Date	28 October 2001
Target	Christians
Attack type	Mass shooting, mass murder
Weapons	AK-47s
Deaths	18
Victims	Christians and guard of church
Assailants	Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
No. of participants	6
Motive	Retaliation to the Afghanistan invasion religious discrimination

The 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.

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,^{[ clarification needed ]} terrorists are targeting Pakistani minorities, especially Christians. ^[1]

Shooting

Six masked gunmen on three motorcycles brought out AK 47 rifles that they were hiding in their bags and started shooting when around 100 people were inside the church. They first killed the guard at the church gate and then entered the church and started shooting the worshippers. ^[2] While shooting, they were chanting slogans, "Afghanistan and Pakistan, graveyard of Christians" and "Allah hu Akbar" (God is Great). They fired for three 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 the 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 to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, who admitted to having committed the crime, were killed in an ambush. ^[5]

See also

• List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001
• 2019 Ghotki riots
• 2014 Larkana temple attack
• 2009 Gojra riots

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.