PESHAWAR: The capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was shaken once again by a heinous attack. As the besieged city and its inhabitants dealt with death, tragedy and mayhem, the rest of the country began to rally around to condemn the inhuman act that took 78 lives.
Before the clock struck 12, the peace of the church and the city was cruelly interrupted as two suicide bombers blew themselves up on the church premises, killing 78 people and injuring another 120. Thirty-four women and seven children were among the dead. Seventeen injured are reported to be in critical condition.According to foreign news agencies, a wing of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it would continue to target non-Muslims until the United States stopped drone attacks in the tribal region Dawn, The Frontier Post, The Nation, Daily Mashriq, The Express Tribune.
KHAR (NNI): FATA parliamentarians and tribal elders of Bajaur Agency have welcomed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s announcement of twenty billion rupees worth of development schemes for youth. Talking to newsmen in Khar‚ Member National Assembly Haji Bismillah Khan‚ Senator Hidayat Khan and other elders said these schemes will not only help provide job opportunities to the youth but also boost the country’s economy.
They asked the Prime Minister to expand the schemes to the tribal areas as majority of youth in these areas are jobless. The Frontier Post.
LANDI KOTAL : Four militants were killed in a blast at the base of an outlawed organisation in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Sunday, sources said. The blast took place at the base of Lashkar-i-Islam in Nala-Malikdinkhel early in the morning. Sources said that the dead included a local commander of Lashkar-i-Islam Younas while two more were identified as Ghufran and Abu Darda affiliated with Tariq Afridi group of Taliban. Sources said that identity of the fourth person could not be established as his body was mutilated beyond recognition. Local officials confirmed the incident and said that members of Lashkar-i-Islam were facilitating different groups of Taliban to carry out terrorist attacks both in Bara and Peshawar.
They said that the government would not hesitate in launching a fresh military operation against LI and Taliban and their sympathisers if they continued with their anti-state activities.-Correspondent Dawn.
ISLAMABAD (APP): Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the suicides attacks on the church in Peshawar and expressed deep sorrow and shock over the loss of precious human lives. He said terrorists had no religion and that targeting innocent people was against the teachings of Islam. Such cruel acts of terrorism reflected the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists, he added. The prime minister expressed solidarity with the Christian community and sympathised with the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of those injured in the blasts. Dawn, The Nation.
ISLAMABAD: Condemning the terrorist attack on a church in Peshawar, the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced a threeday mourning period. In their statements, the PPP leaders condemned the incident and said no one should try to appease militants by any means. Former president Asif Ali Zardari said no words were strong enough to condemn the barbaric and cruel attack on peaceful citizens professing a faith different from that of the majority of Pakistanis. Dawn.
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the blasts in a church in Peshawar. The CM during his telephonic conversation with his counterpart in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khatak on Sunday expressed his sympathies over the loss of lives and offered help to the KP government, says a handout. Dawn.
PAKISTAN: SUNDAY`S brutal attack in a church in Peshawar leaving at least 78 people dead and 120 injured sparked outrage across the country with protests in major cities and towns. A demonstration by charged youths in Peshawar was followed by large-scale protests, some of them violent, in parts of Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rahimyar Khan, Hyderabad and Quetta. In Peshawar, protesters placed bodies of the people killed in the blast on the G.T Road, blocking traffic for some time. They burnt belongings of police personnel deployed at the church for security. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that a strong security plan for churches and other places of worship would be evolved in a few days. The interior minister condemned the blasts and said that the federal government would bear the expenses for the reconstruction of the damaged church. Dawn, The Frontier Post, The Nation.
RAWALPINDI: As many as 49 prisoners allegedly involved in high profile terrorism cases, including five American nationals, have been shifted from the Central Adiala Jail to the high security prison of Central Jail Faisalabad, it has been learnt. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has condemned the twin suicide blasts in a local church here on Sunday and announced three-day mourning to express solidarity with the affected families. The enraged protesters also smashed windowpanes of Lady Reading Hospital and chanted slogans against the government. They tried to attack police personnel both at the church and at the hospital. The protesters put on fire the belongings of policemen including their uniforms and beds outside the church. Dawn, The Express Tribune, Daily Mashriq.
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf chairman Imran Khan said that twin suicide blasts at Peshawar church were perpetrated to sabotage the proposed talks with Taliban to end militancy in the country. ` The only way to establish peace in the country was to come out of the America`s war, he said. Dawn, The Nation.
CAGLIARI (Italy): Pope Francis on Sunday condemned twin blasts at a church in Peshawar that killed at least 78 people as an act of `hatred and war`. `Today, in Pakistan, because of a wrong choice, a decision of hatred, of war, there was an attack` in which 78 people died, he said in unprepared remarks at the end of a one-day trip to the city of Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. Dawn, The Nation.
KARACHI: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a former Taliban secondin-command released in Pakistan on Saturday, is being kept in a safe house in Karachi as regional powers debate his role in the Afghan peace process, sources said on Sunday. Afghanistan sees Baradar as a respected figure who could use his influence among the Taliban to help coax moderate commanders to the negotiating table and convince warring parties to stop fighting after more than a decade of war. Dawn, The Frontier Post.
LADHA: A US drone struck a compound suspected to be housing militants in Shawal area of South Waziristan on Sunday, killing four foreigners and two local tribesmen. According to an official, the compound in Palgi area, adjacent to North Waziristan, was attacked at noon. The compound was hit by two missiles. Taliban sources said four people from Central Asia were among the victims.The names of those killed could not be ascertained.
A security official told AFP that the attack had also left three militants injured. The Frontier Post, Dawn.
BUNER: ANP member and member local peace committee Anwar Khan of Balookhan village was shot dead by unidentified miscreants somewhere between Balookhan and Pacha Kalay. ANP leader and member district peace committee Afsar Khan of Sultanwas strongly condemned this act of terrorism. The Frontier Post, The Nation.
PESHAWAR/LAHORE: The Bishop of Peshawar, Sarfarz Hemphray Peter, announced a three-day mourning to condemn the church attack, alleging that the government has failed to protect the Christian community. He also said Christians are patriotic Pakistanis. He, however, said the church blast is condemnable as innocent people, including children and women have been killed in this brutal act of terrorism. The Nation.
TIMERGARA: At least two security personnel were injured and a dozen militants gunned down in clashes that erupted near Pakistan-Afghan border in Lower Dir district when Pakistani forces were patrolling the border area when they were attacked by about 15 militants, an official of the security forces said. The Express Tribune.
