{"id":6495,"date":"2013-09-23T15:00:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T14:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=6495"},"modified":"2013-09-23T15:01:55","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T14:01:55","slug":"2013sep23islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/2013sep23islam\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslims slaughter Christians in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Worshipers<\/a>
Worshipers outside All Saints Peshawar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two suicide bombers have killed 79 people in an attack during a Christian church service in northwestern Pakistan.<\/p>\n

Muslim militants entered the All Saints Church compound while as many as 600 worshipers were listening to the sermon.<\/p>\n

They detonated their explosives knowing that women and children would be among the casualties.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the<\/strong> attacks<\/strong><\/a>, expressed solidarity with the Christian community and pledged to provide medical and emergency assistance to the victims.<\/p>\n

The blasts, among the deadliest of roughly 85 bomb and suicide attacks in Pakistan this year, come two weeks after political leaders agreed to initiate dialogue with militants in the region, including the Taliban.<\/p>\n

The attack also came\u00a0one day after Pakistan released from prison a high-ranking member of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, formerly the Taliban’s second-in-command.<\/p>\n

All Saints\u2019 Church is part of the Church of Pakistan<\/a><\/strong>, which was formed in 1970 following a union between Lutherans,\u00a0Scottish Presbyterians, Methodists and Anglicans.<\/p>\n

The Taliban-linked militant group TTP Jundullah claimed responsibility<\/a><\/strong> within hours of the attack.<\/p>\n

“They are the enemies of Islam, therefore we target them,” said the group’s spokesman, Ahmed Marwat. “We will continue our attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land.”<\/p>\n

The attack has sparked\u00a0protests by Christians and will jeopardise prospects for peace talks which the Government of Pakistan announced it would be holding with the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Rashid Ahmed Khan, a professor of international relations at the University of Sargodha in Punjab province, said: \u201cThese attacks have put Sharif in a very tough spot. His offer of talks has emboldened these groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tomorrow: We report on the attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two suicide bombers have killed 79 people in an attack during a Christian church service in northwestern Pakistan. Muslim militants entered the All Saints Church compound while as many as 600 worshipers were listening to the sermon. They detonated their explosives knowing that women and children would be among the casualties. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[903,1527,529,904],"class_list":["post-6495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-freedom","tag-all-saints-peshawar","tag-islam","tag-pakistan","tag-taliban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t