The Christian community went into mourning in late November after a bomb blast targeting a Christian village in Chaman led to the death of a seven-year-old boy and injuries to other people including another child.
The blast also caused significant damage to a number of homes in the vicinity. Islamists used a grenade which was thrown at the community gate to cause the devastation.
‘It was a hand grenade which caused the explosion at the colony’s gate,’ Gul Mohammad, a police officer said. The blast also smashed windows in nearby homes. The slain child was named as Lucky Saleem. His family and other victims will be visited and helped with counselling, support and other assistance.
The attack on the Christian community occurred only two days after terrorists clad in massacred nine people and injured a further 35 – mostly students – when they stormed an agricultural research centre in Baluchistan, after entering the premises in an innocuous-looking rickshaw.
All assailants shot
Students described how they fled in panic as the fierce attack erupted. Security forces reacted quickly and shot dead all the assailants at the building near Peshawar some minutes later. The community fears more attacks as Christmas and Easter are times when they are targeted, as larger gatherings of Christians take place.
