ICC Note:
Just before Easter, security forces in Pakistan raided a terror cell plotting to suicide bomb a church on the Easter holiday. While news that the plot was foiled has made sure Easter 2017 was not a tragic day, it has only given Pakistani Christians limited relief. Following the raid, one of the militants captured, a 20-year-old woman, admitted to being radicalized by ISIS and to have received suicide vests from ISIS. This fact, that ISIS is now reaching into Pakistan and targeting Christians, has many afraid of what the future may hold.
04/19/2017 Pakistan (Mission Network News) – While Christians across the globe spent last weekend rejoicing in Christ’s resurrection, Christians in Lahore, Pakistan were once again targets of a terrorist attack.
“Easter is, we’ll say, a pivotal time or strategic time for militants planning attacks because they know Christians are out and about. They’re gathered in large numbers and in churches. So apparently there was going to be another attack this Easter,” FMI’s Bruce Allen explains.
“The good news is that security forces foiled this major terrorist attack on Saturday, hours before Easter celebration.”
Thankfully, Pakistani security forces raided the terrorists just in time to stop them from carrying out their bloody execution. The couple planning the attack, Ali Tariq and his wife Naureen Laghari, planned for a suicide bombing.
However, during the raid, Tariq was killed. Four soldiers and two cops were also injured. Laghari was taken into custody where she admitted to her crime, the suicide bombing plan, and that the Islamic State had provided her and her husband with two suicide jackets along with four grenades and bullets.
What could have been a day of mourning and heartbreak was prevented. Yet, the raid on these terrorists does not mean Christians are safe in the area. Pakistan has been stepping up efforts to combat terrorism in the country.
“They know that terrorism inside the country is a major issue. It’s a major issue for Pakistan’s allies. The bomb that the U.S. just dropped on Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbor, was just miles from the Pakistan-Afghani border,” Allen explains.
“They know and understand, [along with] many of its allies, that you really have to crack down on terrorism. You have it in your backyard, you have it in your front yard. So, the government is trying to do that. More specifically, the military is trying to do that.”
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