Pakistan (MNN) — Twin bombings on Monday in of southwestern Pakistan Monday killed four people and injured 22. The attacks targeted police vehicles, but most of the victims were civilians.
The bombings in Quetta, the capital city of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, were claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — an ethnic separatist insurgency group.
BLA wants Balochistan to be independent and often resorts to violent tactics. The U.S. State Department has designated BLA as a terrorist organization.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by land mass, taking up nearly 44% of the territory. However, it’s also the most sparsely populated with roughly 18 million people out of Pakistan’s 234 million population.
Nehemiah with FMI says, “This region of Pakistan shares two borders with Iran and Afghanistan. This is the ‘wild, wild West’ in Pakistan — one of the most difficult and dangerous places on the planet. The U.S. government and other international organizations, they have already warned their citizens not to travel to this part of Pakistan because several terrorist organizations operate there.
Child in Pakistan. (Photo courtesy of Muhammad Muzamil via Unsplash)
“The TTP is there which is Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Then there is ISIS which they are very, very active in this part of Pakistan. And then we have two different regional terrorist organizations — that is BLF and BLA. So when I say BLF, that is Balochistan Liberation Force, and BLA is Balochistan Liberation Army.
“Most of time, these terrorist organizations attack army personnel, they attack police, security agencies, [and] they attack civilians. So it happens all the time.”
Balochistan is also 99.8% Muslim, with almost no Christian presence.
Almost.
FMI supports Christian partners and church planters throughout Pakistan, including the volatile region of Balochistan.
“Our partners are still struggling and trying to survive in this difficult situation. This is the place where we call walking on the edge. It’s a very difficult place to live, but praise God that God has given that burden to FMI partners and church planters…who are willing to serve in this region of Pakistan,” says Nehemiah.
“If you talk to any family in Balochistan, everyone has someone who died in the family or someone is a missing person. Someone left the house and never came back for years. So I can see that when we talk to people who are not believers, who are not Christian, they have pain and agony — not only for the state of Pakistan, but they wonder what kind of mission is this. That makes them more searching for truth.
(Photo courtesy of FMI)
“That is the great opportunity for the Christian organizations because…we can explain who is the real Prince of Peace and we can introduce Jesus Christ.”
Pray for believers in Balochistan to be spiritually encouraged and practice discernment as they share the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors.
Also, Nehemiah asks, “Please particularly pray for Balochistan and the people there who live there in this very difficult situation that God may open many doors [and] that many people may know Jesus Christ as their Savior.”
Header photo courtesy of Abuzar Xheikh via Unsplash.
