Release International

Islamist extremists shot dead five Christians at a laboratory in Pakistan after they refused to convert to Islam.

The Christians were gunned down at the Maryiam Labs facility in Quetta city, Baluchistan, by two men who fled on a motorbike. The dead men were named as Mushtaq Masih, Naveed John, Naymat Gill, Nadeem Akhtar and Suleman.

The five had reportedly received several threatening letters demanding they 'convert or die' before the attack on August 28. Seven other Christians were injured in the attack.

Local Christians suspect their attackers belonged to the same militant group which killed at least seven Christians in Gojra, Punjab, last month (Prayer Alert, August 11, 2009).

Police in Punjab say there have been several attempts to provoke further attacks on Christians in different parts of the province. In one such incident, torn pages of the Koran were recently found on land between Christian and Muslim communities near Chichawatni. Local Muslim and Christian leaders quickly dismissed the find as a 'plant' to try to stir up religious tensions. When Chichawatni Muslims realised their Christian neighbours were too frightened to send their children to the local school, which is in a Muslim area, the Muslims offered to escort Christian children to school.

Also in Punjab, a young Christian named Falish Masih, 20, was found hanged in his prison cell hours after he was accused of desecrating the Koran. About 100 people destroyed a church and two Christian houses in Sambrial district after the allegations against Falish became public. His family believe his real 'crime' was to have fallen in love with a Muslim girl, enraging her family.

(Sources: Agence France Presse, International Christian Concern, Pakistan Christian Post, The New York Times, The Voice of the Martyrs Canada)

• Pray for the relatives of Christians murdered in Quetta – and for Falish's family.
• Thank God for good relations between local Christians and Muslims in Chichawatni. Pray that this unity and tolerance will deepen.

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