(17 Aug 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Janrawala, Punjab - 17 August 2023
1. Various shots of burned church building, Christians looking around
2. Tilt up interior of burned church building hall
3. Various of street shots, barbed wire on road and people on motorbikes moving around
4. Low-angle shot of debris, police standing in the background
5. Various of a Christian family standing and walking around their damaged and burned house
6. Various of Shazia Amjad crying
7. Amjad and her family walking through debris
8. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Shazia Amjad, Christian, resident of burned house:
“We were sitting at home when suddenly we heard that a mob is coming and it is burning homes and attacking churches, as soon we left our houses, they set on fire our houses by using petrol."
9. Christians walking around, looking at their damaged houses
10. Wide of Christian community street, police walking through debris
11. Close low angle of a burned motorbike, smoke rising
12. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Azeem Masih, resident of burned house:
“Look at our houses, look at our churches, look at our street, if someone did wrong arrest them, what is our fault, why are our houses and churches being burned, we want justice, it was one person's mistake, and they burned all our churches situated in Janranwala, why did they burn these poor people's houses, where they are going to stay, they lost everything.”
13. Tilt down of another burned church building to debris
14. Various of paramilitary force called Rangers in the area
15. Rangers convoy patrolling in the area
STORYLINE:
Police in eastern Pakistan arrested 129 Muslims overnight after a Muslim mob angered over an alleged desecration of the Quran attacked churches and homes of minority Christians, prompting authorities to summon soldiers to restore order, officials said Thursday.

The Christians living in the city of Jaranwala in the Faisalabad district quickly moved to safer places as the mob rampaged Wednesday, and there were no casualties from what was one of the country's most destructive attacks against Christians.

They slowly returned home to see the destruction Thursday.

At least one church was burned, four were damaged and two dozen homes were torched or badly damaged.

“We were sitting at home when suddenly we heard that a mob is coming and it is burning homes and attacking churches,” Shazia Amjad said as she wept outside her torched home.

She told The Associated Press that the mob burned household items and furniture and some of her possessions were stolen while she was staying with her family in a safer place.

Amjad said the rioters sprinkled petrol to burn homes.

Other Christians described similar ordeals and expressed bewilderment.

Azeem Masih wept as he sat outside his burned home on a street where several were burned.

He said some of the rioters brought vehicles to take the Christians' household items after burning their furniture and other belongings. “Why did they do it to us? We had not done anything wrong,” he said.

Local Christians consoled each other outside their damaged homes, wept, and those who lost their homes had no idea where to go or what to do now.

A Local priest told AP earlier he believed most of Jaranwala's 17 churches had been attacked and his own home was damaged.

Delegations of Muslim clerics arrived in Jaranwala to help calm the situation, as troops and police patrolled the area.

Local authorities have shut schools and offices and banned rallies for a week to prevent more violence.





AP video by Faisal Anjum



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