There were about 2,000 worshipers in the Protestant Christ Church and St John’s Catholic Church on Sunday. The two churches are only 400 meters apart. But the volunteer security guards working with the local police intercepted the suicide attackers before they could enter the buildings, preventing major devastation.
At least 17 people were killed and 80 others injured in the attacks on the two churches in Youhanabad, a poor Christian neighborhood in the suburbs of Lahore, on Sunday.
“It was around 11am when one attacker approached the Christ Church, shooting at everyone in front of him with an automatic machine gun,” said a witness, Maqbool Bhatti.
“The shooter acted as a battering ram clearing the way for the other attacker who was wearing a suicide vest. He killed a policeman and volunteer security guard Yousuf Goga,” said Asher Wasim, a Christ Church member who arrived at the site minutes after the attack began.
When the suicide bomber approaching from the opposite direction tried to enter the building, volunteer security guards Shamim Bhatti, Musa Tanveer and Shahzad Rehmat Bhatti stopped him.
Obaid Sardar Khokhar, 32, was leaving the church with his wife Ambreen Khokhar and their three-year-old daughter Angelina. “He ran to the scene and was dragging the attacker away from the entrance when his accomplice shot him in the head,” Ambreen’s father Mukhtar Joseph said. “Angelina ran towards her father, and Ambreen ran after her. She was shot too, and died on the spot. She was expecting a baby in two months.”
Outside St John’s Catholic Church, two attackers approached the entrance from opposite directions in the same manner – one wearing a suicide vest while his accomplice shooting at people to clear the way for him. A 16-year-old volunteer, Akash Bashir, grabbed the man wearing the suicide vest.
“He was attempting to scale the outer wall,” Akash’s father Bashir Emmanuel said. “Akash grabbed him by his leg. The attacker threatened to blow up his vest, but Akash pulled him down. He detonated his vest, killing Akash and several others.”
A splinter group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan that calls itself Jamaatul Ahrar claimed responsibility.
“The Tehrik-e-Taliban Jamaatul Ahrar accepts responsibility for the attacks on the churches in Lahore,” their spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told reporters. “We promise that until an Islamic system is put into place in Pakistan, such attacks will continue. If Pakistan’s rulers think they can stop us, they can try.”
Napoleon Qayyum, whose house is only about 100 yards from St John’s Catholic Church, said the church had asked local police for a walk-through metal detector, but it hadn’t been installed yet.
In October 2013, three suspicious men of Pashtun origin were spotted at a wedding in that church, but local Christian leaders are not aware of the outcome of their interrogation by the police.
Angry residents of Youhanabad, mostly young men, took to streets and blocked Ferozepur Road to protest against insufficient security measures at the two churches. But the protesters soon turned violent. They pelted cars with stones and did not allow the police to enter the colony for about three hours. Some even attacked reporters and cameramen. Many Christians took to streets in other parts of Pakistan.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is the elected representative of the area. His party, the PML-N, sent Christian Senator Kamran Michael to the site, but the protesters refused to negotiate with him.
Meanwhile, there were reports that two young Muslims had been lynched by angry protesters and then set on fire. Some said they were carrying weapons, others said they were caught firing them, and yet others said they were the shooters accompanying the suicide attackers. One of them was later identified as Muhammad Naeem, a glass cutter who ran a shop in the same vicinity, and the other as Babar Nauman, a hosiery worker who belonged to Sargodha.
As gory images of the lynching ran on TV and more details emerged, for some Muslim the sympathy with the Christian community slowly turned into animosity.
“Chuhras (a pejorative word for Christians) have set on fire two Muslims today,” one young man posted on Facebook. “I am only sad about their death.”
Muslims from Dulam, a neighborhood adjacent to Youhanabad, staged a rally demanding justice for Naeem. Worried about their security, Christians of the area called for help. But the rally changed its route and did not enter the Christian neighborhood.
One Christian man, Riaz Masif, was hospitalized when he was beaten up for attending a demonstration against the attacks in Kasur.
Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary troops guarded the funeral service of 10 of the victims of the attacks on Tuesday. Muslims from nearby localities gathered outside a church off Ferozepur Road, and some threw stones at it.
Thousands of Christians have fled Youhanabad, expecting a larger backlash on Friday, and amid police raids to arrest suspects involved in the lynching of the two Muslim men.
At least 17 people were killed and 80 others injured in the attacks on the two churches in Youhanabad, a poor Christian neighborhood in the suburbs of Lahore, on Sunday.
“It was around 11am when one attacker approached the Christ Church, shooting at everyone in front of him with an automatic machine gun,” said a witness, Maqbool Bhatti.
“The shooter acted as a battering ram clearing the way for the other attacker who was wearing a suicide vest. He killed a policeman and volunteer security guard Yousuf Goga,” said Asher Wasim, a Christ Church member who arrived at the site minutes after the attack began.
When the suicide bomber approaching from the opposite direction tried to enter the building, volunteer security guards Shamim Bhatti, Musa Tanveer and Shahzad Rehmat Bhatti stopped him.
Obaid Sardar Khokhar, 32, was leaving the church with his wife Ambreen Khokhar and their three-year-old daughter Angelina. “He ran to the scene and was dragging the attacker away from the entrance when his accomplice shot him in the head,” Ambreen’s father Mukhtar Joseph said. “Angelina ran towards her father, and Ambreen ran after her. She was shot too, and died on the spot. She was expecting a baby in two months.”
Outside St John’s Catholic Church, two attackers approached the entrance from opposite directions in the same manner – one wearing a suicide vest while his accomplice shooting at people to clear the way for him. A 16-year-old volunteer, Akash Bashir, grabbed the man wearing the suicide vest.
“He was attempting to scale the outer wall,” Akash’s father Bashir Emmanuel said. “Akash grabbed him by his leg. The attacker threatened to blow up his vest, but Akash pulled him down. He detonated his vest, killing Akash and several others.”
"He was dragging the suicide attacker away when his aide shot him in the head"
A splinter group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan that calls itself Jamaatul Ahrar claimed responsibility.
“The Tehrik-e-Taliban Jamaatul Ahrar accepts responsibility for the attacks on the churches in Lahore,” their spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told reporters. “We promise that until an Islamic system is put into place in Pakistan, such attacks will continue. If Pakistan’s rulers think they can stop us, they can try.”
Napoleon Qayyum, whose house is only about 100 yards from St John’s Catholic Church, said the church had asked local police for a walk-through metal detector, but it hadn’t been installed yet.
In October 2013, three suspicious men of Pashtun origin were spotted at a wedding in that church, but local Christian leaders are not aware of the outcome of their interrogation by the police.
Angry residents of Youhanabad, mostly young men, took to streets and blocked Ferozepur Road to protest against insufficient security measures at the two churches. But the protesters soon turned violent. They pelted cars with stones and did not allow the police to enter the colony for about three hours. Some even attacked reporters and cameramen. Many Christians took to streets in other parts of Pakistan.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is the elected representative of the area. His party, the PML-N, sent Christian Senator Kamran Michael to the site, but the protesters refused to negotiate with him.
Meanwhile, there were reports that two young Muslims had been lynched by angry protesters and then set on fire. Some said they were carrying weapons, others said they were caught firing them, and yet others said they were the shooters accompanying the suicide attackers. One of them was later identified as Muhammad Naeem, a glass cutter who ran a shop in the same vicinity, and the other as Babar Nauman, a hosiery worker who belonged to Sargodha.
As gory images of the lynching ran on TV and more details emerged, for some Muslim the sympathy with the Christian community slowly turned into animosity.
“Chuhras (a pejorative word for Christians) have set on fire two Muslims today,” one young man posted on Facebook. “I am only sad about their death.”
Muslims from Dulam, a neighborhood adjacent to Youhanabad, staged a rally demanding justice for Naeem. Worried about their security, Christians of the area called for help. But the rally changed its route and did not enter the Christian neighborhood.
One Christian man, Riaz Masif, was hospitalized when he was beaten up for attending a demonstration against the attacks in Kasur.
Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary troops guarded the funeral service of 10 of the victims of the attacks on Tuesday. Muslims from nearby localities gathered outside a church off Ferozepur Road, and some threw stones at it.
Thousands of Christians have fled Youhanabad, expecting a larger backlash on Friday, and amid police raids to arrest suspects involved in the lynching of the two Muslim men.