Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a church in the provincial capital after Sunday Mass, killing at least 80 people and injuring more than 100 others, police say.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Shaukat Yousufzai confimred the death toll.
The attackers hit the 130-year-old All Saints Church in Peshawar right after hundreds of parishioners walked out the building after Sunday mass.
Police said the victims included many children and women.
More than 100 people are being treated at LadyReadyHospital, doctors and hospital sources said.
Sources feared that the death toll from the tragic incident might rise further as condition of several of the injured was serious. Many bodies remained unidentified and many others were missing after the incident.
Human organs and blood was scattered all over the place while reportedly due to the powerful blasts human organs also landed at the nearby houses which created a very tense atmosphere and panic in the whole area.
The hospital was short of beds to accommodate all the injured so many of them were provided treatment on the floor.
CCPO Peshawar Ali Babakhel said that a policeman, who tried to stop the bomber, was also killed in the explosion. Another policeman was also injured in the attack whose condition was stated to be critical.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the densely populated Christian residential area.
Emergency was declared in all hospitals of the city.
The police also recovered the body parts of would be suicide bombers from the scene of the blast.
Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Zaheerul Islam also confirmed the causalities and injuries in the suicide blast.
Eyewitnesses said that two consecutive blasts were heard after which there was pool of blood at the scene.
SSP Peshawar city said that the blast also damaged a portion of the church.
AIG bomb disposal squad (BDS) Shafqat Malik said that both blasts were suicide bombings.
Some residents, enraged at the lack of adequate security at the church, took to the streets immediately after the attack, burning tyres and shouting slogans. Shops were closed in the Kohati Gate area where several other churches are located. Protests have been held in Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and other parts of the country after the attack.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the blast.
“The Prime Minister said that terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions,” his office said in a statement. “He added that such cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mind set of the terrorists.”
The prime minister also directed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali to immediately reach Peshawar.
He also directed Cabinet Division to send choppers to Peshawar to airlift injured to hospitals in Islamabad.
President Mamoon Hussain, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali, Chairman PTI Imran Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazal ur Rehman, leaders of PPP and other political parties also strongly condemned the suicide attack at Christian community.
They said that through such cowardly acts government’s resolve to root out menaces of terrorism and extremism can’t be weakened.
Meanwhile, ANP, PPP, MQM, Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen and minority groups announced three days of mourning against the attack.
Sooner you hear people with outlandish theories about this carnage to confuse people, making it impossible to carve out a rational and logical course of action against these barbarians. However, if state can not protect its minorities, it should allow them to defend themselves on their on. If it can not do this then all minorities should join hands together and demand a separate homeland for themselves. I am sure all those who believe in Two Nation theory will support them in their just demand for separate homeland to live the life the way they want to live.
Is anyone defending the Muslim Masajids and Jumma Congregations? They are the ones targeted the most and muslims die in 100s. Nobody protests. This attack was not an attack on a church, it was an attack on a gathering and it could have been a muslim gathering too, and it always is. So lets not think of it in terms of minority and majority.
Islam does not allow any innocent life to be taken. It further states that if an innocent is killed it is as if the whole humanity is killed. We Muslims deeply regret this horrific incident and demand immediate justice for the Christian community. These brain washed TTP criminals are maligning the name of islam.
Pakistani News
TTP is a cult organization. Its job is to create anarchy and fear among citizens by means of indiscriminate violence so that people become so afraid of them that they do not object to their demands, which is nothing more than imposing their brand of Shriah on everyone. These people do not even know how to interpret Shariah. Their other objective is to further the agenda of the Saudis and the Qataris and the other likeminded Middle Eastern countries, which is to promote Wahabi-ism. These are thugs and should never be negotiated with.
If Nawaz Sharif had any pride in what he stands for,what he believes in and more importantly what he has said about the terrorists,he would have cancelled the trip,called in a meeting and started killing these scums at the first light today.But his words continue to hold no meaning.8o more people dead,80,thats 80 families torn apart,thats a lot of kids without fathers and mothers.MR.PM,when is it going to be enough?when are our christian,hindu,sikh,ahmedi Pakistani brothers and sisters going to get a fair shake?
Simply ban all religious/political parties which either supports these criminals or are using minced words to condemn these barbarians. Our country has suffered too much by considering these beasts as strategic assets. Now is the time to through them out in wilderness for good. My heartfelt condolence to all my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Strangely many religious personalities who are now condemning this suicide attack are their partners just like '' Silent Copy ''.
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