Priest held by Taliban gives first interview

Indian priest Father Prem Kumar, who was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan last year and spent the next eight months in captivity, has given his first interview. Speaking from the Vatican having just met the Pope, he told BBC World Service that his captors were “innocent” people who were . . . Read More

100s attend funerals of Pakistan Christians

Tight security surrounded the funerals in Lahore on Tuesday of Pakistan Christians killed by two Taliban suicide bomb attacks. Hundreds of Christians had to submit to security checks as they attended the funerals in Lahore’s biggest Christian neighbourhood. The bomb attacks on Sunday left 17 dead and more than 80 . . . Read More

Bombers kill 17, injure at least 80 in Pakistan church attacks

Bombers kill 17, injure at least 80 in Pakistan church attacks
At St. John’s Catholic Church, the bomber was kept outside of the courtyard by a security volunteer who dragged the attacker off the wall.World Watch Monitor   At least 17 people were killed, and 80 others injured, as two churches in the main Christian district of Lahore, Pakistan, were attacked . . . Read More

After ‘Charlie’: latest incident of Pakistani Christians targeted by Muslim anger

Protests over their latest Charlie Hebdo cartoon depiction a weeping Prophet Mohammed holding a sign saying, 'I am Charlie', led to violence in the West African nation of Niger over the weekend January 18, 2015.

World Watch Monitor
The publication of Charlie Hebdo’s ‘memorial edition’, with its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad crying, sparked – in one or two countries – a violent backlash against Westerners in general and Christians in particular. It was notable in Niger, where 70 churches were destroyed, Algeria where police and protestors clashed, . . . Read More

Amidst political turmoil, continuing blasphemy charges for Pakistani Christians

Amidst political turmoil, continuing blasphemy charges for Pakistani Christians
Naja Maish his wife and family with TVS TeamCourtesy of The Voice Society   Christians have continued to be accused of blasphemy against Islam, in three separate recent cases in Pakistan. In one, a group of 35 was briefly accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammed before the charge was quickly . . . Read More

IS leaflets spread in Pakistan; 1200 Christians displaced as army attacked militants

IS leaflets spread in Pakistan; 1200 Christians displaced as army attacked militants
Qissa Khanni Bazaar in Peshawar, Pakistan. ‎November‎ ‎2008 EUPK/ Flickr / Creative Commons   In what looks like a bid to extend its influence in the South Asian region, IS militants have allegedly distributed 12-page pamphlets in the north-west of Pakistan, in Peshawar and in Afghan refugee camps based near . . . Read More

Two Finnish Christian aid workers killed in Afghanistan

Two Finnish Christian aid workers killed in Afghanistan
Two Finnish women working for a Christian aid charity have been killed by gunmen in Herat, Afghanistan; both had worked in Afghanistan for 16 years, having arrived there together in March 1997. Two men, travelling by motorcycle, shot two women, who worked for the International Assistance Mission, IAM – while . . . Read More