Christians in Pakistan demand more protection after suicide bombing

Prayers and tears following the church suicide bombing in Peshawar make way for anger as hundreds of worshippers take to the streets

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Christians pray for the victims of the Peshawar blast during a demonstration in Karachi yesterday, one of several across Pakistan. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:00am, 24 Sep 2013Updated: 10:25am, 24 Sep 2013

Angry Christians protested across Pakistan yesterday to demand better protection after a double suicide bombing at a church killed 85 people.

The attack on All Saints Church in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday was the deadliest to target Pakistan's small Christian minority.

Pakistani Christians hold a burning tyre as they stage a protest in Lahore against the suicide bombing of a church in Peshawar. Photo: AFP

Christians demonstrated in towns and cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar to demand the authorities do more to protect them. A Muslim man was killed in Karachi when scuffles broke out at a Christian protest outside a mosque, police said.

More than 600 protesters blocked a major highway in Islamabad for several hours during the morning rush hour, burning tyres and causing long delays.

In Peshawar, about 200 demonstrators smashed windows at the main Lady Reading Hospital, where many of the victims were treated, and blocked the main Grand Trunk road.

At All Saints Church, more than 100 people chanted slogans demanding justice and attacking the national government for failing to protect Christians.

They also had harsh words for the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party runs the provincial government in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Protesters shouted abusive slogans against Imran Khan, who they accuse of being soft on militants, including regular chants of, "Imran is a dog".