Global News - Redeem the Oppressed

A suicide bomber has killed at least 62 people in northwestern Pakistan.

Peshawar Pakistan- Taliban-linked group ISIS claimed responsibility for yesterday’s suicide attack at the Shia Mosque in the North-Western city of Peshawar Pakistan that killed at least sixty-two people and injured around 190.

A Social media post by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq News Agency said a suicide bomber trained by the Militant group carried out the attack on Friday 4th March 2022.

Amaq New Agency social media post

According to eyewitnesses, the assailant opened fire before blowing himself up. It was the largest suicide attack on the Shia community since 2018. In 2013, a similar sort of attack on a Christian church killed more than 100s people in the same city.

According to the police chief, the investigation is underway.

Shia, Christians, and other religious minorities in Pakistan are under serious threat since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. These groups, which helped the Taliban in the fight against the United States and its allies, are now gaining support and strength in Pakistan’s northwestern cities. And their main targets are Shia and Christians.

Religious Minorities in Pakistan is having long been a target by the Sunni Muslim militant groups such as the Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), ISIS, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Sipah-e-Sahaba, and many others having the similar ideology.

And it is our observation that the coming years will be more dangerous for the religious minorities in Pakistan, as past and present Pakistani states have been supporting these terrorist groups for their short-term policies. And now sympathizers and supporters of these groups are present all over Pakistan.

Now is the time for the international community to come together to end all forms of oppression around the world and to impose a complete ban on all groups and countries that are fueling extremism.

By Farrukh Saif

Farrukh Saif is a Pakistani human rights activist based in Germany. He founded his own organization, the Farrukh Saif Foundation (FSF), in 2009 with the goal of supporting marginalized and oppressed minorities in Pakistan who are affected by religious discrimination, blasphemy laws, forced conversions, abductions, rape, and bonded slavery. The main focus of the FSF is on the liberation of bonded laborers, particularly those working in brick kilns in rural areas of Pakistan. In 2018, the FSF merged with the US-based Emergency Committee to Save the Persecuted and Enslaved. Throughout his career, Farrukh has been a leading voice for the rights of minorities in Pakistan and has gained international attention for his campaigns against the misuse of blasphemy laws and the belief that asylum is not a crime. In 2014, he played a key role in the release of hundreds of asylum seekers from Thai jails and has worked with his legal team to save numerous victims of strict blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Farrukh has also been invited by the Hungarian government to discuss his work and the issues he addresses. In addition to his work with the FSF, Farrukh has also been involved in various other humanitarian efforts, including providing health care services to internally displaced persons in Khayber Pakhtoon Khawa in 2009 and assisting flood victims in Sindh and Punjab in 2010. He has worked to aid victimized minorities in Pakistan and has a strong track record of successfully advocating for their rights. Farrukh joined forces with Keith Davies in 2018 to co-found the Emergency Committee to Save The Persecuted and Enslaved, and since 2009, they have collectively successfully rescued more than 36000 individuals from slavery and persecution.