While the country was coming to terms with the Peshawar suicide bombing of a church, news reports said that a blast killed five, including four police personnel in Pishin, Balochistan.
Media reports said that the bomb was placed below the police van and five others were injured in the blast. The Prime Minister condemned the blast, according to an official statement.
UN, EU condemn Peshawar bombing
Meanwhile Pakistan Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the National Assembly on Monday that in the Peshawar bombing, 81 people were killed and 137 injured of which ten were critical. He said that the incident took place at 11.40 am and of the four security personnel on duty at the church, one died and another was injured.
Condemning the suicide bombings at a Peshawar church on Sunday as inhuman and an affront to the values based on which Pakistan was established, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon the government to share with the people its strategy to overcome the ongoing faith-based and militant-orchestrated attacks on citizens across the country.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Commission said: “HRCP is sickened by the brutal attack on the churchgoers in Peshawar. We share the grief of the aggrieved families and the stricken community and condole the loss of at least 80 precious lives and injuries to many more.”
The massacre of Christian citizens is an affront to the values that Jinnah’s Pakistan must stand for, an insult to the principles propagated by Islam and a damning indictment of the state for its failure to protect its citizens, especially those from religious minorities, and their religious freedoms, the statement said. HRCP believes that with the killing of every citizen on account of her or his belief a part of the tolerant tradition in Pakistan dies too.
The United Nations in Pakistan also condemned the attack carried on the Christian community in Peshawar. A statement by Timo Pakkala, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Pakistan, said, “This violent act, targeting defenceless minorities, is totally unacceptable. We are horrified by this act of brutality and extend our condolences to the families of the deceased and the wounded. We reaffirm our strongest commitment to protecting the rights of all minorities for them to freely exercise their rights.”
The United Nations welcomes the announcement of the Government of Pakistan with reference to increased security measures to protect minorities throughout the country and reiterates its strong support to the government in its efforts to protect religious and ethnic minorities and expresses full solidarity with the Pakistani people on the occasion of this sad event, the statement added.
The European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton condemned the attack on the Christian community in Peshawar. In a statement she said, "I am appalled by the terrorist attack on the All Saints Church in Peshawar yesterday, which killed at least 81 people and injured more than 120. The EU condemns this attack in the strongest terms. We call on the Government of Pakistan to take stronger action to ensure the protection of all its citizens – regardless of their religion or belief - and to bring to justice all groups and individuals responsible for inciting and carrying out acts of terror.”
