Originally published on September 23, 2013
A dual suicide attack on a church in Pakistan Sunday killed at least 78 people.
The victims of the attack at the All Saints Church in Peshawar included 34 women and seven children, according to the Interior Minister. More than 100 people were wounded.
The twin explosions struck the historic white-stone building as several hundred parishioners, many of them women and children, streamed out of the building.
The head of the Bomb Disposal Squad said the two suicide bombers carried at least six kilogrammes of high explosives in their vests, which contained ball bearings to maximise the number casualties.
According to Reuters, "Islamist violence has been on the rise in Pakistan in past months, undermining Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to tame the insurgency by launching peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
"Within hours of the attack, Sharif toughened his stance considerably but fell short of calling for outright military action against insurgents holed up in tribal areas on the Afghan border - an option supported by Pakistan's all-powerful army.
"'Such incidents are not conducive of peace talks,' Sharif said in televised remarks. 'Unfortunately, because of this, the government is unable to move forward on what it had envisaged, on what it had wished for.'
"An assault of such scale and audacity could be a turning point for Sharif after months of inconclusive efforts to engage the Pakistani Taliban in talks, offering him a cue to give in to the tougher approach backed by the military.
"The army, which keeps thousands of troops in the tribal belt, an area where insurgents are based, opposes talks with the Pakistani Taliban, saying previous attempts to bring the militants to the negotiating table yielded no results.
Christians make up about 4 percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million, and tend to keep a low profile in a country.
"Attacks on Christian areas occur sporadically around the country but Sunday's assault, in a densely populated Christian residential area in the old walled city in Peshawar, was the most violent in recent history.
"Protests by Christians were also reported in other cities including Multan and the violent port city of Karachi."
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