KARACHI:
According to a report by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), Pakistan is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for religious minorities.Here are some of the major attacks on minorities in the country since May, 2013.
May 5, 2013:
A mob brandishing clubs had smashed statues, looted gold artefacts and set Hindu temples ablaze in the town of Larkana.
September 22, 2013:
In what is believed to be the country’s deadliest attack on Christians, at least 83 people were killed in a twin suicide bombing in Peshawar. Two attackers had struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar.
March 7, 2013:
Hundreds of protesters set ablaze more than 200 houses belonging to Christians in Joseph Colony, after Sawan Masih, a member of the colony, was accused of blasphemy. Three churches were also burnt in the locality. A day before the incident, police forced the Christians to vacate their houses, saying they would also be attacked otherwise.
November 4, 2014:
An enraged Muslim mob beat a Christian couple to death near Lahore and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked on Tuesday for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran.
May 13, 2015:
Gunmen on motorcycles boarded a bus and opened fire on commuters belonging to the Ismaili community in Karachi, killing at least 43. Militant group Jundullah, which has attacked minorities before, claimed responsibility.
November 21, 2015:
An angry mob set ablaze a factory owned by members of the Ahmadiyya community in Jhelum. According to sources, the mob attacked the factory after accusing one person who worked there of committing blasphemy.
March 27, 2016:
At least 72 people were killed and more than 300 injured when a suicide bomb ripped through the parking space of a crowded park in Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday.