Several churches were set on fire by a rampaging mob in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday after a Christian family was accused of blasphemy, police and emergency services said.
Hundreds of people armed with sticks and stones stormed a predominantly Christian neighbourhood in the city of Faisalabad, police in the area told French news agency AFP.
Images posted on social networks show smoke rising from a church and furniture such as beds and chairs set on fire in the street.
The attack was triggered when a group of religious fanatics accused a local Christian family of desecrating the Quran, according to an emergency official on the scene.
“Photos and videos of burnt pages of the Quran were shared among residents, causing an outcry,” Rana Imran Jamil, a spokesman for the town’s rescue services, told AFP by phone.
According to the same source four churches were set on fire but no injuries were reported.
“We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice [...] to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland," Azad Marshall, bishop of neighbouring Lahore, posted on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The issue of blasphemy is particularly sensitive in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of offending Islam can lead to murders and lynchings.
Christians, who make up around 2% of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs in Pakistani society and are frequently the target of spurious and unfounded allegations of blasphemy.
