A brutal murder of a priest who was driving home from Church in restive Peshawar has once again highlighted the persecution of Christians in Pakistan.
Motorcycle-borne gunmen killed the priest, William Siraj, and wounded Patrick Naeem, when the two along with a third person, who was uninjured, were driving home, the German news outlet DW is reporting.
Disturbing news of terror attack on Diocese of Peshawar coming from Pakistan in which Pastor William Siraj has been killed & Rev Patrick Naeem severly injured.
Every word will be small to condemn this heinous act. Prayers for the injured & solidarity to the Christian community. pic.twitter.com/SEOhQNQ54Z
— Navaid Hamid نوید حامد (@navaidhamid) January 30, 2022
The killing has shocked Pakistan’s minority Christian community. Azad Marshall, the most senior bishop in the Church of Pakistan, has condemned the attack. He urged the Pakistani government on Sunday to bring to justice, the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
"We demand justice and protection of Christians from the Government of Pakistan" Marshall tweeted. According to the DW report, the clerics were said to be from the apex Church of Pakistan–a union of Protestant churches including the Methodists and the Anglicans.
Police said that they were looking for the assailants using CCTV footage of the attack on the city’s Ring Road.
Peshawar has faced horrific attacks against Christians in the past. In 2013, a Peshawar Church was the victim of a double suicide bombing, which killed hundreds of people, making it one of Pakistan's worst attacks against Christians.
