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has emerged as a dangerous new player in Pakistan, sending a pair of suicide bombers this week to detonate themselves inside a church in the deadliest ever attack against Pakistani Christians.
• The brutal assault, which killed 85 worshippers during Sunday services, was the first time that a militant group has taken direct aim at Pakistan's tiny Christian community.
• That points to a frightening evolution in the country's multifaceted violence -- threatening a new wave of bloodshed, this time targeting non-Muslim religions, which account for barely 5 percent of Pakistan's mainly Sunni Muslim population of 180 million.
• Already a nervous minority, Pakistan's Christians are among the poorest in the country, often living in squalid settlements tucked away in the country's sprawling cities.
• The community has come under brutal attacks before. But in most cases, they were unorganized mob attacks by radical Muslims who burned down entire Christian neighborhoods, usually over a personal or property dispute that escalated into charges a Christian committed blasphemy against Islam, stirring up a mob. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws have also landed dozens of Christians in jail over flimsy charges that could get them death penalties.
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Massive quake in southwest Pakistan kills 210, rescuers struggle to help people in remote area
• QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) -- Rescuers struggled Wednesday to help thousands of people injured and left homeless after their houses collapsed in a massive earthquake in southwestern Pakistan the day before as the death toll rose overnight to 210.
• The earth moved with enough force to create a small island visible off the southern coast after the huge tremor, said Pakistani officials.
• The magnitude 7.7 quake struck in the remote district of Awaran in Pakistan's Baluchistan province on Tuesday afternoon. Such a quake is considered major, capable of widespread and heavy damage.
• It was felt as far away as New Delhi, the Indian capital, some 1,200 kilometers (about 740 miles) away, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported there.
• A provincial official in Baluchistan, Additional Home Secretary Zahid bin Maqsood, put the death toll at 210 and said 375 people had been injured, while a (Continued on page 40)
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