ICC Note:

The funeral for Samuel Masih, age 55, was held on Saturday, September 3, just one day after the Christian cleaner was struck down by terrorist bullets in Pakistan. Masih, a life long resident of a Christian neighborhood in Peshawar, was killed when terrorists from the Pakistani Taliban attacked his neighborhood. Fortunately, Masih was the only Christian killed by the terrorists who were heavily armed and eventually detonated suicide vests when they were engaged by the military. Christians have become a soft target for Pakistan’s terrorist organizations. Still, little has been done by the Pakistani government in order to secure this already vulnerable population. 

9/7/2016 Pakistan (Crossmap) – A funeral was held on Saturday (3 Sep.) for the Christian cleaner killed during the 2 Sep. attack on a Christian colony in Peshawar, north-western Pakistan.

Four suicide bombers carrying automatic weapons were waiting at the gate to the colony, which is locked every night. When Samuel Masih, 55, opened the gate on his way to work at around 5.30am, they shot and killed him. Two policemen were injured as they fought off the attackers, who were all killed.

“We are thankful that the army quickly arrived at the scene; otherwise, there would have been great bloodshed that morning,” Samuel’s eldest son, Waqar, 27, told World Watch Monitor.

“We are just simple people. Why did they attack us? How will we ever feel safe?”

The Masihs are one of around 30-40 Christian families living in the colony, known simply as “Christian Colony”. Samuel Masih arrived in 1955, when his father, Sardar, came looking for work at the nearby Warsak Dam. The colony was created specifically for Christians working at the dam, for the Water and Power Development Authority.

Samuel had worked there his entire life, until taking up a new job last year as a cleaner with the Peshawar Development Authority. His son, Waqar, took over his previous job at the dam, like his father and grandfather before him.

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