Christians as targets

KILLINGS carried out as a result of religious differences are frequent in Pakistan. But mostly they are the result of tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Christians, no more than 1% in a population of 120m, have until recently largely been left in peace. The attack on a church in Islamabad, the capital, on March 17th, in which five people died, two of them Americans, was linked more to the war in Afghanistan, rather than directed specifically against the Christian faith. An attack on a church in Bahawalpur, in Punjab province, in October, in which 18 people died, was the worst suffered by Christians since Pakistan was founded, and was also linked to the Afghan campaign.