Crowds Burn Two Churches in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan — Hundreds of Muslims attacked and burned two churches in Pakistan on Saturday after reports that a Christian man had desecrated Islam’s holy book. No one was hurt.

A school, a student hostel and the home of a priest also were set afire by the crowd of about 1,500 Muslims near the town of Sangla Hill, about 80 miles northeast of Lahore, police official Ali Asghar Dogar said.

The attacks were being investigated. About two dozen people were arrested, Dogar said.

The fires came a day after a Muslim resident accused a Christian of burning a one-room Islamic school along with copies of the Koran.

Dogar said the allegations were apparently leveled by people who had lost money while gambling with the Christian man Friday. Police detained him and were investigating.

Shahbaz Bhatti, head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, which promotes the rights of minorities in mainly Muslim Pakistan, denied the charges and condemned the attacks on the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

“No Christian burned copies of the Koran,” he said. “No Christian even can think of doing it. We have maximum regard and respect for the Koran and Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.”

Bhatti accused local Muslim leaders of using mosque public-address systems to urge Muslims to attack the churches.

Non-Muslims make up 3% of Pakistan’s 150 million people.