Tariq Saeed Peshawar
Unknown terrorists on Sunday gunned down a priest and seriously wounded his companion outside a church in the outskirts of the provincial metropolis.
Officials say the unidentified men showered the van carrying priest William Siraj and his friend Patrick with bullets after Sunday mass outside All Saints Church near Peshawar’s Ring Road. While William succumbed to bullet injuries, his friend Patrick received critical wounds and was moved to the Lady Reading Hospital. The law enforcers rushed to the site of the attack and cordoned off the area after the deadly attack. While the investigation teams also arrived to collect evidence from the area, the police said they have launched a search operation after the attack and are also taking help from nearby CCTV cameras to identify the suspects and their possible motive behind the attack.
Capital City Police Officer Peshawar Ahsan Abbas while talking to news men at a presser in the afternoon informed that the suspects who attacked the priest and his accomplice were riding on a motorcycle. “They opened fire at the van carrying the priests,” the CCPO Peshawar said.
“Terrorists are attacking soft groups in the city; Police have been receiving general threats every now and then but weren’t aware of a possible attack outside the church,” he said.
In 2013, it may be recalled in one of the deadliest attacks on the Christian community, a deadly bomb explosion at Saint John’s Church Peshawar had left 127 people dead and more than 250 others wounded seriously. The Jundallah group of defunct Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the attack.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has condemned the attack on the members of the Christian community in strong words. Taking notice of the incident, the Chief Minister directed the Police authorities to immediately apprehend the perpetrators of the Sunday attack.
“Attacks on religious persons are highly condemnable. The culprits can’t escape the law and would be apprehended sooner,” the CM said and directed the hospital administration to ensure best medical assistance to the injured priest.
