ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gunmen armed with grenades attacked two mosques of a minority sect during prayers in eastern Pakistan on Friday, seizing control of one them and battling with police, officials and witnesses said. At least 30 people were killed and 50 others injured, hospital officials told Fox News, and worshippers were believed held hostage.
The attacks in Lahore city were against the Ahmadi sect, which has experienced years of state-sanctioned discrimination and occasional attacks by radical Sunnis. It has never before been hit on such a large scale or coordinated fashion.
One of the attackers climbed atop the minaret of one of the mosques, firing an assault rifle and throwing hand grenades, TV footage showed. Outside, police were engaged in a fierce gunfight with the attackers, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.
Police officer Imtiaz Ahmad said several attackers were inside and were suspected to be holding hostages.
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Related:
Police ‘in control’ at one of two Pakistan mosques attacked
Updates:
1:55 pm EDT, May 28th, 2010 — Pakistan mosque attacks in Lahore kill scores
Muslims massacring other Mulsims (in the holiest of places no less) and the Mulsim world collectively sighs, shrugs and moves on. But if the attackers had not been Muslims…………the western world would be in flames. Where are the supposed vast majority of so-called moderate Muslims and where is their outrage? If not in Arab countries, why aren’t they at least here in the west organizing huge marches in protest to these endless slaughters of their own? Just wondering.
Because there is absolutely no merit organizing marches that aren’t heard by local governments and among people who see no difference between a radical and a moderate Muslim.
If you want to hear about disparities in Muslim thought then read Muslim news sources instead of trying to find the Islamic equivalent of an “uncle tom” who tap dances for people that don’t give a damn about him. Trust me, they’re out there. Most of them deal with constant death threats and fatwas that no local activist of any political stripe has to face.
“Trust me, they’re out there”
I do believe that they are indeed out there. But if the deaths of millions of Muslims at the hands of fellow Muslims is not enough, just when will enough be enough? What I would like to see them do is show themselves enmasse for the rest of the Islamic world to see. Doing so would be a huge step forward in this battle, and not just for ‘our’ benfit, but for their own as well.
Seems fairly typical of how the entire non-western world treats its minorities, so we really should do the charitable thing and send the liberal progressives of our Human Rights Commissions over there to give the perpetrators a thorough browbeating. It wouldn’t necessarily be permanent, our HRCs would just have to stay until they have “helped” all the really violently hateful people in the world overcome their differences, and then they can come back here and carry on lecturing us about our insensitive taste in cartoons.