Armed men stormed the church in the federal capital on Sunday and resorted to aerial firing that spread fear and panic among the worshippers present inside the premises.
Police have registered an FIR against the accused under the charges of terrorism and are conducting raids to arrest them.
The incident happened at around 5 pm on Sunday evening when the prayer sermon was being conducted in the church.
FIR of the incident.
Pastor Younis Masih, who leads the sermons of the church, told The Friday Times that his son and daughter were on their way to the church when the accused, named Amir, Khurram, and Hassan, and his brother allegedly harassed his daughter, and when his son intervened to forbid them, they assaulted the brother and sister on the road.
He added that a few minutes later, the accused, along with their accomplices, attacked the church. He said that they were more than 40 in number and were armed with weapons and iron rods, adding that they kept firing until the police reached the spot. However, the accused managed to flee from the scene, he added.
Pastor Younis told The Friday Times that the accused are influential and often cause disturbance in the locality by teasing women. They often hoot and pass comments while standing on the road leading to the church when girls are on their way to attend the sermon.
He said, "We demand action against the culprits as per the law of our country, and we also don’t want any innocents to be punished." "Only the guilty should be held accountable for their acts," he added.
Pastor Younis said, "We don’t want to label it as a religious incident, adding that it is an act by some miscreant youth who are also involved in selling drugs and disrupting the peace of the locality."
