Lahore church bombings

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Lahore church bombings
لاہور گرجہ گھر دھماکے
Pakistan - Punjab - Lahore.svg
Location of Lahore in Punjab
Location Lahore, Pakistan
Coordinates 31°24′41″N74°21′58″E / 31.411291°N 74.366078°E / 31.411291; 74.366078
Date15 March 2015
TargetRoman Catholic Church, Christ Church
Attack type
 Suicide bombings
Deaths19
15 [1]
2 policemen and 2 passers-by
Injured70 [2] [3]
Perpetrators Jamaat-ul-Ahrar [1]
MotiveRetaliation against Operation Zarb-e-Azb

On 15 March 2015, two explosions took place at Roman Catholic Church and Christ Church during Sunday service in Youhanabad, Lahore, Pakistan. [4] At least 15 people were killed and seventy were wounded in the attacks. [2] [3]

Contents

The attack was followed by mob violence killing two men mistaken as militants. [4] It was the second attack on Christians minority after the deadliest attack in 2013 on All Saints church in Peshawar. In August 2015, Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada announced that five members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban were arrested in connection to the attack. According to the statement, the men received monetary and material support from India and planned the attack in Afghanistan, from where they came to Lahore. The arrested men also confessed to planning further attacks in Karachi and Lahore. [5]

Background

The Pakistani Taliban operates as an umbrella organization for various Islamist militant groups in Pakistan. They actively target religious minorities for attacks, [6] [7] [8] including a series of attacks in 2002. In August 2002, three nurses died in a grenade attack on a chapel located on the grounds of the Taxila Christian Hospital, [9] in September 2002 seven charity workers were killed in Karachi [10] and on 25 December 2002 a grenade attack on a Presbyterian church killed three girls. [11] [12] The September 2013 suicide attack on the historic All Saints Church in Peshawar killed 75 people. [13] [14]

One of the Islamist militant groups allied to the Pakistani Taliban is Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway organisation that reunited in March 2015. [15] [16] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar carried out the November 2014 Wagah border attack where over 60 people died and over 100 were injured, [17] and the same month killed at least six people in Mohmand Agency [18] and attacked the membership camp of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement party in Karachi. [19]

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar operate the Afia Siddiqui Brigade, named after Aafia Siddiqui, [20] which previously carried out 2012 attacks on a police van on the Peshawar Ring Road and on the Judicial Complex in Peshawar. [21]

Attack

According to reports, two suicide bombers attacked the churches located in a Christian locality. The bombings took place during weekly Christian service at the two churches of Yuhanabad neighbourhood located at a distance of half a kilometre apart.

The bombers targeted two churches, Saint John Catholic Church and Christ Church at around 11:00 am local time. Both churches are located in the Youhanabad area, which is one of the country's biggest Christian localities and is home to at least one million people. [22]

The bombers tried to enter the churches but were stopped at the gate by the guards, where they blew themselves up. The high number of casualties was due to the fact that weekly service was underway when the attacks occurred. [3] The wounded were rushed to the General Hospital, where a state of emergency was declared at 12:21 pm. [23] The explosions caused a stampede at the Church as worshipers ran to save their lives. Windowpanes were broken due to the explosions.

Responsibility

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar – a splinter group of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, which had reconciled with and rejoined the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan earlier the same month [24] – claimed responsibility for the attacks. [1]

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan used his Afghan mobile number to contact the media in Pakistan. He said, "We have carried out the attack. We have reached Lahore, the center of Punjab province, which is a challenge and a warning to the rulers." [25] He said that the group of suicide bombers who carried out the attack belonged to the Aafia Siddiqui Brigade. [23] In August 2015, Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada announced that five people were arrested in connection with the attack. According to Khanzada, they belonged to the TTP's Shehryar Mehsud group and planned the attacks inside Afghanistan, from where they came to Lahore. According to the statement, the arrested suspects received monetary and material support from India. They also confessed to planning more attacks in Karachi and Lahore. [5]

Aftermath

The attacks ignited protests which continued for the next three days. The same day as the bombing, two men were lynched as a result of these protests. The next day paramilitary personnel had to be deployed in order to maintain law and order. The victims were laid to rest on March 17 amid tight security. Several thousand police and ranger personnel were deployed in Lahore during the last rites. [26]

Politicians, religious leaders and members of the civil society condemned the attacks, while calling for stricter security measures. However, the lynching by the mob was also condemned and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan termed it as "the worst kind of terrorism". [27] [28]

The second leg of the FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Pakistan and Yemen was to be played in Lahore. FIFA first gave the go-ahead for the match saying that it could be played behind closed doors but later a statement issued by the governing body cited "safety and security reasons" for the postponement of the match and said that the Asian Zone first round second leg tie will be played in a neutral venue. [29] [30] A subsequent statement by FIFA said that the match would be played in Manama, Bahrain. [31]

Protests

After the attack up to 4,000 Christians gathered at the attack site, formed a mob and blocked Ferozepur road. The angry mob attacked a nearby Metro bus station. [3] Water cannons were dispatched to help police clear the area. However, the mob took three policemen hostage and refused to talk with Ports and Shipping Minister Kamran Michael, who had arrived to console them. The mob captured and lynched two men suspected of being involved in the attacks. [23] The Christian community in Faisalabad city also protested against the attacks. [32] Members of the Christian community in Karachi took to the streets and protested at Esa Nagri area. They blocked the route from Hassan Square to Liaquatabad area of the city. Similar protests were staged in Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot and other cities of Pakistan. [3] [33]

The next day up to 5,000 Christians gathered to protest but protests again turned violent as two people were killed and at least six were injured when a van ran over the protesters. [34] [35]

Lynching

The angry mob lynched two persons. One of the lynched men was identified as Muhammad Naeem by his brother Muhammad Saleem who filed an FIR of a murder case against the protesters. He claimed that his brother was innocent and further stated that his brother was not a militant. [36] He was missing and when they went to hospital they learned that he was one of those lynched. He said his brother was a glasscutter and they owned a glass shop and his brother had gone there for their work. [37]

The second victim was identified as Babar Noman, a garment worker who had come from Sargodha in search of employment at a factory. The police buried the victim's body on 17 March but a court ordered the exhumation of the body once the victim's family lodged a complaint. However, the authorities stated that the body would not be handed over before a DNA test is used to prove his identity. [38]

Reaction

Domestic reaction

Government

A spokesman for the Punjab province government condemned the attacks and said authorities are reinforcing security at the 481 remaining churches across the city. The Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attacks and commented that killing someone on the basis of suspicion is inhumane. No one has the right to take the law into their hands. [37]

The Balochistan Provincial assembly condemned the suicide attacks and lynching of two men by an angry Christian mob. [39]

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also condemned the attack. [23] Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned terrorist attacks on churches and said those who had done this did not belong to any religion because no religion tolerates such odious crimes. He also said that action would be taken against those who burnt two people alive and damaged public and private properties. [40] [41]

Religious groups

The Catholic Church of Pakistan strongly condemned the suicide bombings and urged all Pakistanis to stand with their fellow Christians against extremists. Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference urged the nation's provincial and federal governments to take effective measures to provide security for the churches of Pakistan, so as to guarantee freedom of religion and worship. The church also appealed to the Christian community to avoid violence and co-operate with the police in their investigations. The Catholic bishops said that they prayed to their Lord for the health of the injured and to grant grace to the families who lost their loved ones. [42]

Muslim scholars hailing from different schools of thought condemned the attack and termed it un-Islamic. Muftis of Sunni Ittehad Council said that Islam did not permit attacks on the worship places of religious minorities. A Muslim state was responsible for the protection of minorities. They also urged Islamic scholars to define the rights of minorities in Islam. [43] Pakistan Ulema Council leader Tahir Ashrafi said, "It seems like a conspiracy to ignite communal violence in the country. I appeal to all Pakistanis to stand united against this act of terrorism." [44] Jamaat Ahle Hadith Pakistan and Milli Majlis Shari also condemned the attack and urged the religious scholars to play their role against terrorism. [45]

International reaction

See also

Related Research Articles

Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani Taliban</span> Islamist militant organization operating along the Durand Line

The Pakistani Taliban, formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current leader is Noor Wali Mehsud, who has publicly pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban share a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and have assisted them in the 2001–2021 war, but the two groups have separate operation and command structures.

Youhanabad is a residential neighbourhood in Nishtar Town within Lahore, Pakistan.

Ehsanullah Ehsan is a former spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and later Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. As a spokesperson of the groups, Ehsan would use media campaigns, social media networks and call up local journalists to claim responsibility for terrorist attacks on behalf of the groups. He was initially a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In 2014, he left TTP after he had developed ideological differences with the TTP leadership following the appointment of Fazlullah as the leader of the group. He later co-founded Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and became its spokesman. In 2015, as a spokesman of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, he condemned Fazlullah-led Tehrik-e-Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar.

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2012. Pakistan has faced numerous attacks by insurgents as a result of the ongoing War in North-West Pakistan by the Pakistani military against militant groups, part of the War on Terror. At the same time, there have also been numerous drone attacks in Pakistan carried out by the United States which exclusively target members of militant groups along the Afghan border regions.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Wagah border suicide attack</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaat-ul-Ahrar</span> Organization

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was a terrorist organization that split away from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in August 2014. The group came to prominence after it claimed responsibility for the 2014 Wagah border suicide attack. In August 2020, it merged back to TTP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Peshawar school massacre</span> Tehrik-i-Taliban terrorist attack on the Army Public School and College in Peshawar, Pakistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Lahore suicide bombing</span> Anti-Christian terrorist attack by the Taliban in Lahore, Pakistan

On 27 March 2016, on Easter Sunday, at least 75 people were killed, and over 340 were injured, in a suicide bombing that hit the main entrance of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, one of the largest parks in Lahore, Pakistan. The attack targeted Christians who were celebrating Easter. The majority of the victims were women and children. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack led to worldwide condemnation and national mourning throughout Pakistan. Pakistan also launched a widespread counter-terrorism operation in South Punjab, arresting more than 200 people who may have had a possible connection to the attack.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Peshawar mosque bombing</span> Suicide attack in Pakistan

The 2023 Peshawar mosque bombing was a terrorist attack that killed 84 people on 30 January 2023, at around 1:30 p.m. PKT, in the city of Peshawar, in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The mosque is located inside a high-security compound that includes the headquarters of the provincial police force and a counterterrorism department. At the time of the bombing, between 300 and 400 police officers were offering their Zuhr prayers.

References

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  20. ↑ "Why is Aafia Siddiqui 'Lady Al Qaeda' the world's most wanted woman?". MetroNews. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015. In Pakistan, a group of militants calling itself the Aafia Siddiqui Brigade has attacked government facilities in order to avenge what they see as her wrongful incarceration.
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  34. ↑ "Two killed as car runs over Church attack protesters". The Nation. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
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