Jihad on Churches
Muslim Persecution of Christians, March 2015

by Raymond Ibrahim • June 15, 2015 at 5:00 am

"Destroying churches is permissible -- as long as the destruction does not bring harm to Muslims, such as false claims that Muslims are persecuting Christians...." — Dr. Yusuf al-Burhami, leading Salafi cleric, Egypt.
"The children were isolated and put in cages. Adults who do not deny their faith will be decapitated, and their children burned alive in the cages." — Sister Monique of the Vincentian Daughters of Charity, Syria.
"[T]he police detained my son Zubair and tortured him in front of me. When Zubair cried with pain, they told him that he would be released only if I confess the theft.... I repeatedly told the police that I had no connection with the said theft, and then they threw me out of the police station... The next day we found Zubair's dead body outside our house." — Aysha Bibi, on the Pakistani police's attempt to extract from her a confession to a theft she did not commit.

Heavily armed German police guard the Cathedral in Bremen, after receiving intelligence information that jihadists planned to attack the city's Cathedral and synagogue. (Image source: Tagesschau video screenshot)

On Sunday, March 15, as Christian churches around the world were celebrating morning mass, two churches in Pakistan — one Catholic, one Protestant — were attacked by Islamic suicide bombers. At least 17 people were killed and over 70 wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility. It is believed that the group had hoped for much greater death tolls, as there were almost 2,000 people in both churches at the time of the explosions.

According to eyewitnesses, two suicide bombers approached the gates of the two churches and tried to enter them. When they were stopped — in one church by a 15-year-old Christian youth who blocked them with his body — the Islamic jihadis self-detonated. Witnesses saw "body parts flying through the air."

According to an official statement from the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan, despite all the threats received by the churches, authorities only provided "minimal" security.