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Forces deployed to quell riots in Pakistan

Last Updated 02 August 2009, 17:15 IST

 
Meanwhile, the authorities on Sunday booked nearly 800 people for rioting and killing people, Geo TV said.

Pakistan Rangers personnel took up positions in and around Azafi Abadi village, also known as Koriaan, where the situation remained tense, a day after it witnessed communal clashes.
Persons from the two communities exchanged fire and over 80 homes of Christians were set on fire by mobs.

Despite the deployment of the Pakistan Rangers, the situation in the area remained tense throughout Sunday as some Christians refused to bury their dead until police registered complaints against those responsible for the killings and arson. 

“We have arrested a number of suspects and exemplary punishment will be given to those involved in crimes. This is a crime against humanity,” Rana Sanaullah, Law Minister of Punjab, said. He said some outlawed religious groups were involved in the violence but did not name them. A source in the police department said activists of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba and Sipah-e-Muhammad were involved in the violence.

President Asif Ali Zardari has strongly condemned the violence. Violence erupted in the village, part of Gojra sub-division of Toba Tek Singh district, when a group of Muslims alleged that three Christians had burnt pages of the Quran at a wedding ceremony last week.

Violence erupted in the village, part of Gojra sub-division of Toba Tek Singh district, located 160 km from Lahore, when a group of Muslims alleged that three Christians had burnt pages of the Quran at a wedding ceremony last week.

At least seven Christians, including four women and two children, were burnt alive. Three others were killed in police firing on Saturday, witnesses said.

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(Published 02 August 2009, 17:15 IST)

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