Three Christians were shot and wounded in a Christmas Day gun attack on the home of a pastor and televangelist in Lahore, Pakistan, sources said.
Following a Christmas Eve confrontation in which pastor Shahzad Siddique tried to stop Muslims from harassing guests, more than a dozen gunmen the next day opened fire on Christians at a gathering outside his home in Lahore’s Maryam Colony, said Siddique, a Pentecostal preacher.
“I had just returned home from my church and was resting when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire outside my house,” Sidique told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
He called a police helpline, and an assistant sub-inspector and another officer arrived within 25 minutes; at the same time, some church members arrived for the planned Christmas festivities, he said.
Violence against Christians
Violence against Christians in Pakistan has escalated in the recent years. On Aug. 16, 2023, a Muslim mob attacked Christian neighborhoods in Jaranwala Tehsil, Punjab Province, torching multiple churches and homes of Christians after two Christian men were accused of writing blasphemous content and desecrating the Quran.
Of the more than 300 people arrested for the violence, only one is still in jail, with the rest walking free on bail due to defective police investigation, rights advocates say.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
