Mob attacks Pakistani churches over blasphemy allegations
The Hindu
Images on social media showed smoke rising from the church buildings and people setting fire to furniture that had been dragged from them.
Several churches were set on fire by a rampaging mob in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday after a Christian family was accused of blasphemy, officials said.
Hundreds of people armed with sticks and rocks stormed the predominantly Christian area in Faisalabad city, police in the area told AFP.
Images on social media showed smoke rising from the church buildings and people setting fire to furniture that had been dragged from them.
The attack was triggered by a group of religious zealots accusing a local Christian family of desecrating the Quran, according to a rescue official at the scene.
"Photos and video clips of burnt pages of the Quran were shared among the locals, which created an uproar," Rana Imran Jamil, a spokesman for the city's 1122 rescue service, told AFP by phone.
He said four churches had been set on fire, adding that there were no reports of injuries.
Pakistani bishop Azad Marshall, in the neighbouring city of Lahore, said the Christian community was "deeply pained and distressed".
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