Tag: Quetta

Pakistan: Christians continue to face blasphemy convictions and violent attacks

August 22, 2022 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Minorities, Pakistan, Quetta

People participate in a motorbike rally ahead of country’s 75th Independence Day celebrations in Lahore on August 12, 2022.

While Pakistan celebrates 75 years of independence, the Christian minority continues to face discrimination, harassment and violence because of their faith. On 8 August, a Catholic man was killed and three teenagers injured when two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire in a Christian colony in the town of Mastung, 45kms . . . Read More

Pakistan: ‘Attack on pastors illustrative of increasing pressure’, say Christians

February 1, 2022 Pakistan Afghanistan, All Saints Church, Pakistan, Peshawar, Quetta, Taliban, Tehreek-e-Labaik

Rev. William Siraj and Rev Patrick Naeem. (Source: Facebook page Church of Pakistan)

A Pakistani pastor was killed and another wounded Sunday in an attack outside their church in northwestern Peshawar. The two pastors were leaving the Shaheedan-e- all Saints’ Church where they had led the Sunday morning service when two men on a motorbike drove up to their car. They shot Rev. . . . Read More

‘Untouchable’ caste identity haunts Pakistani Christians like Asia Bibi

November 1, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Caste, Gilgit, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Minorities, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Peshawar, Punjab, Quetta, Sindh, Sweepers

Asia Bibi was on death row for blasphemy, after offering drinking water which she, as a Christian, was considered to have made “unclean” by her touch. She got into an argument over this. Many Pakistani Christians – who are about 2% of the population – are children of converts to . . . Read More

‘Extremists given a free hand’ – Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

April 16, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Human rights, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minorities, Nadeem Masih, Pakistan, Patras Masih, Quetta, Religious freedom, Sajid Masih, Sawan Masih, UN

Pakistani Christians experience an increase in violence such as a suicide attack on the Bethel Methodist Church in Quetta in December last year that killed more than ten and injured dozens of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Two Pakistani Christians were killed and at least three injured in a drive-by shooting on Sunday (15 April) in Essa Nagri, a Christian-majority area in Quetta, capital of the impoverished Balochistan province in the southwest. The victims, aged 19 and 28, had just left a church service when they were . . . Read More

Pakistan and Iraq: Christmas joy mixed with grief

December 24, 2017 Christmas, Iraq, Kirkuk, Multan, Nineveh Plains, Pakistan, Quetta

How will Christians under pressure for their faith celebrate Christmas? In the first of our series we hear from Pakistan and Iraq. Pakistan: Pattern of suicide attacks during festivals This is the fourth time in three years that suicide bombers have targeted churches or gatherings around Christian festivals. Last Sunday . . . Read More

Adding insult to injury – Pakistani church leaders arrested, fined for ‘not putting security in place’

December 22, 2017 Pakistan Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan, Peshawar, Punjab, Quetta

Bishop of Multan Leo Paul with a security inspection team outside Multan Cathedral, late Dec 2017

Pakistan intelligence agencies on Tuesday (19 December) put out an alert that major parks could be targeted by suicide bombers over Christmas in Lahore, capital of Punjab province – where the largest population of Christians resides. On Sunday (17 December), two suicide bombers attacked Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in the . . . Read More

Pakistan: mourners bury 11 killed in Quetta church suicide attack, as 50 injured

December 18, 2017 Pakistan Balochistan, Pakistan, Quetta

Mourners attending the funeral of victims of the church bombing, Quetta, Pakistan (World Watch Monitor)

Pakistani Christian mourners today (Monday) are burying their dead only days before they should be celebrating Christ’s birth. Worshippers were lining up to take the Holy Communion when at least two men, armed and wearing suicide vests, attacked Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in western Pakistan’s restive city Quetta on Sunday . . . Read More

As China goes global, its Christian missionaries go too

September 4, 2017 Balochistan, China, Islamic State, Lee Zingyang, Meng Lisi, Missionaries, Pakistan, Quetta, Zhejiang

A Chinese Christian holds a Bible standing outside the largest Chinese church in the world: the Three Self church which seats 5,000 people, in Hangzhou city. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

China’s drive to develop new trading routes to the West and beyond comes with an unintended and often overlooked by-product: Chinese Christian missionaries, who are putting the self-proclaimed atheistic country in a difficult spot, according to the BBC. The latest example is the story of two young Chinese who travelled . . . Read More

Secret ministry of Chinese missionaries in northern Iraq

July 19, 2017 Balochistan, China, Iraq, Islamic State, Lee Zingyang, Meng Lisi, Missionaries, Pakistan, Quetta

Cross on Dongguang Church against factory name. Shenyang, northeastern China. Shenyang is the capital and largest city of China’s northeast Liaoning Province. It was the site of the 17th-century Manchu capital Mukden, and the imposing Mukden Palace (Shenyang Imperial Palace) is a blend of Manchurian and Tibetan architectural styles. Mausoleums of Qing dynasty emperors can be found at Zhaoling Tomb, amid the pine forests and lakes of Beiling Park, and at Fuling Tomb in the city’s east. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Christian from China’s underground Church says he feels safer working as a missionary in northern Iraq than he does at home. Such a perspective might seem somewhat surprising: but it says more about returning stability to parts of northern Iraq than it does about possible dangers in China. The South . . . Read More

Pakistan expels South Korean for ‘illegal preaching’ after murder of Chinese ‘missionaries’

June 21, 2017 Pakistan Balochistan, China, Islamic State, Lee Zingyang, Meng Lisi, Quetta, South Korea

Pakistan has ordered a South Korean man to leave the country, accusing him of involvement in “illegal preaching activities”, after two of his students at an Urdu-language school were abducted and killed by the Islamic State group, which claimed they had been secretly preaching Christianity. “Investigations have revealed that [Juan . . . Read More

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