A soldier stands guard next to the site of a bomb blast in Bajaur district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on July 31, 2023. At least 54 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded on July 30 by a suicide bombing at a political gathering of a leading Islamic party in northwest Pakistan, officials said. (Photo: AFP)
By Kamran Chaudhry
Aug 2 2023
The resurgence of terrorist attacks in Pakistan has put the onus on the Church in the Muslim-majority nation to better protect itself with more security measures.
“We are being asked to hire private guards, install closed-circuit television cameras, and raise the height of boundary walls of churches,” said Father Nasir William, parish priest of St. Peter Canisius Catholic Church in Abboattabad.
“It is already 12 feet high,” the priest said, citing a letter sent by local police in Abboattabad, where former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed in a US raid in 2011.
William said he received the letter from police on July 30 after a suicide blast at a political rally in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“All the churches in our diocese have already adopted such security measures. The visits of security officials have become rampant but the tragedies continue. What more can we do?” said the priest who also acts as director of the Commission for Social Communications of Islamabad-Rawalpindi diocese.
The government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa already provides at least two police officers to escort priests and nuns of this insurgency-hit province, bordering Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
On July 31, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at a political gathering the previous day that has so far claimed 54 lives, including 23 children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The attack on the gathering of around 400 members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, a prominent ruling coalition ally, led by hardline politician Fazlur Rehman, took place near a market in Bajaur and police said nearly 12 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.
Bajaur, a tribal region in Pakistan, had long been a stronghold of the Pakistan Taliban before the Pakistani army cracked down on the group in 2016.
“The blast in Bajaur made existing tensions really come to the fore. We strongly condemn the brutal attack where many innocent people have lost their lives and many got injuries. The people responsible must be brought to justice,” Archbishop Joseph Arshad, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, told UCA News.
“All political leadership must push for a political solution so that democracy may flourish in our country.”
“The Church has volunteers and the local administration is also providing security at churches. We continue to play our part to build peaceful coexistence in society,” the prelate added.
Pakistan is witnessing economic and political turmoil since former prime minister, Imran Khan, was removed through a no-confidence motion in April last year. The five-year tenure of national and provincial assemblies ends on Aug. 12 with polls expected within 60 days.
James Rehmat, executive director of the Ecumenical Commission for Human Development, condemned the pre-election violence in Bajaur.
“The deadly bombing at a political rally in the months running up to the general election poses a threat to our already fragile democracy and the ailing economy,” he said.
“Daesh is known for targeting vulnerable religious minorities. We call upon the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Since last year, terrorist attacks have increased in Pakistan after a truce between the Pakistan Taliban and the government collapsed.
More than 100 people, mostly police officers, were killed earlier this year in a blast at a mosque in northwestern Peshawar city.
This April, a hardline militant group claimed responsibility for the killing of Dayal Singh, a Sikh trader, and Kashif Masih, a Christian sanitary worker, in Peshawar. – UCA News
