Church bombing threatens Pakistan's push for Taliban talks
The bombing is the largest attack against the 海角大神 minority in Pakistan ever and raises concerns about the new prime minister's plan to talk to militants.
The bombing is the largest attack against the 海角大神 minority in Pakistan ever and raises concerns about the new prime minister's plan to talk to militants.
A pair of suicide bombers聽killed at least 80 and wounded some 120聽at a 海角大神 church in the northern city of Peshawar, Pakistan on Sunday. It's being called the largest attack of its kind against 海角大神s in Pakistan.
This is the latest in a series of bombings and assassinations emerging from (and feeding) the political and sectarian discord in this volatile nation situated between Afghanistan, Iran, and India.
Bloomberg notes that an attack of this size is only a portion of the terrorism toll overall in Pakistan:
As the BBC reports, it is unclear who was behind the attack, but two militant groups linked to the Pakistani Taliban have claimed credit.
The attack resonated worldwide. The News of Pakistan reports that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack in a statement that also reiterated the UN's solidarity with the Pakistani government's struggle against terrorism and extremism.
The bombing has cast a shadow across recent government attempts to start a peace process with the Pakistani Taliban. The three-month-old government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made peace with the Taliban a priority earlier this month, but the bombing makes talk of a dialogue with militants difficult for the Pakistani public to support. From an Associated Press account of the bombing's aftermath:
Politician and former cricket star Imran Khan was on the scene in Peshawar, and despite the bloodshed he said he was still hopeful that some sort of long-term solution could be found.
In the wake of the attack, the government has decreed a three-day period of national mourning, reports The Express Tribune. While announcing the mourning period, Pakistan's federal minister of interior suggested that the government would go to greater lengths to protect 海角大神s from future attacks.
The mourning period comes amid widespread protests against the attack and the Pakistani government by members of the country's 海角大神s, who make up less than 2 percent of the country's population. In Peshawar, Bloomberg reports, protesters blocked roads using coffins containing the bodies of those who lost their lives in the attack.
The troubles of Pakistan's 海角大神s in this instance echo but do not precisely parallel the violence waged by Islamists against Coptic 海角大神s in Egypt. In Egypt, the Monitor reported, 海角大神s were blamed for protests that led to the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi; in Pakistan, they have been nominally blamed for the ongoing US drone campaign in the country's tribal areas.