Pakistan: Islamic extremists operating openly

Islamic militants kidnapped 16 Christians in a raid on June 21 around 8pm while they were worshiping at the house of Salamat Masih, a local Christian, in a Christian neighborhood in northern Pakistan. About 350 Christians, mostly poor, live in  Bansarabad Academy Town in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan.

                                                                                                   

Pastor Bashir Sharif was leading a prayer service before a child's birthday party when masked militants bearing arms arrived in four-wheel-drive vehicles. Christians were taken at gunpoint and taken to the Khyber Pass near the border with Afghanistan.

                                           

According to Pakistan daily, The News on Sunday, the militants warned the residents of the Christian Colony to vacate the building, as it was once part of a local Madrassa, or Islamic seminary.  

                                                  

Local police official Mohammed Khan told the media that the abducted Christians were freed early on June 22.  Source says that the local administration of Bara, where the Christians were kept by the militants, negotiated with the kidnappers and after a long discussion got the Christians released. They were then brought to the office of political agent and then left for their homes.

 

Pakistan’s premier, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, said "We condemn this act and, despite the recovery of the abductees, an enquiry will be held to uncover the faces behind the incident," on the state-run Pakistan Television news channel.        

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