AJC Appalled by Terror Attack on Pakistan Church

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Sep 22, 2013, 10:18 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is appalled by today's deadly terror attack on a church in Peshawar, Pakistan.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100816/AJCLOGO )

Two suicide bombers struck as worshipers were leaving the All Saints Church after celebrating Sunday Mass. More than 75 are dead, and at least 100 wounded. Observers on the scene say the toll may go even higher.

"Radical Islamic terrorists, motivated by a blinding, intolerant ideology to murder innocents and create mayhem, have now brought their recipe for horror to one of Pakistan's oldest churches," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Clearly, the two suicide bombers chose the timing of their attack -- the end of Sunday morning religious services -- to produce maximum deadly harm."

AJC has expressed deep concern about repeated attacks on Christians and other religious minorities in various Muslim-majority countries. The global advocacy group has also spoken out before about assaults against Christian targets in Pakistan.

In March, AJC urged Pakistan to step up efforts to protect the country's Christian minority, after more than 150 houses and two churches were set on fire in the Joseph Colony, a small Christian neighborhood in Lahore.

"Following today's double suicide bombings in Peshawar, we once again urge the Pakistani authorities to do everything possible to protect the country's Christian minority," Harris stressed. "And there needs to be a sustained global outcry in the face of such deadly attacks, fueled by religious extremism. Sadly and inexplicably, however, that has been largely missing. Why?"

SOURCE American Jewish Committee