| Bahawalpur church shooting | |
|---|---|
  Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan | |
| Location | 29°23′23.92″N71°39′44.3″E / 29.3899778°N 71.662306°E /29.3899778; 71.662306 St. Dominic's Church, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Date | 28 October 2001 |
| Target | Christians |
Attack type | Mass shooting,mass murder |
| Weapons | AK-47s |
| Deaths | 18 |
| Victims | Christians and guard of church |
| Assailants | Lashkar-e-Jhangvi |
| 6 | |
| Motive |
|
TheBahawalpur church shooting was amass shooting atSaint Dominic's Church inBahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan on 28 October 2001 by six assailants belonging toLashkar-e-Jhangvi. The guard of the church and 17 otherChristians were killed.
Non-Muslims are targeted in Pakistan byextremists. Since Pakistan backed theUnited States in the2001 invasion of Afghanistan,[clarification needed]terrorists are targeting Pakistani minorities, especially Christians.[1]
Six masked gunmen on three motorcycles brought outAK 47 rifles that they were hiding in their bags and started shooting when around 100 people were inside the church. They first killed the guard at the church gate and then entered the church and started shooting the worshippers.[2] While shooting, they were chanting slogans, "Afghanistan and Pakistan, graveyard of Christians" and "Allah hu Akbar" (God is Great). They fired for three minutes, from 08:52 to 08:55 (UTC + 0:500).[3] The assault left 18 people dead.[2]
ThePresident of Pakistan,Pervez Musharraf said that he was saddened by the killing of Christians and accused trained extremists of the attack.[2]
Two days after the attack, police launched a crackdown and captured 22 suspects.[4] On 28 July 2002, 4 suspects belonging toLashkar-e-Jhangvi, who admitted to having committed the crime, were killed in an ambush.[5]
