Pak. Christians vow 'revenge'

BAHAWALPUR (Pakistan), OCT. 29. Thousands of mourners shouted ``revenge, revenge'' as the bodies of the 15 Christians were brought to the church, where they were massacred a day earlier, for funeral rites today.

Outside the St. Dominic's Church, and around Christian monuments across Pakistan, additional police reinforcements were deployed to protect the tiny minority after the worst single massacre of Christians in Pakistan's 54-year history.

More than 100 activists of militant Islamic groups were detained in overnight raids in the southern districts of the Punjab province. The Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said he had ordered a manhunt to track down the gunmen. ``My Government and law- enforcing agencies would do everything possible, so that whoever has committed this gruesome act will be brought to book and given exemplary punishment,'' he said on Sunday.

``Police reinforcements are in place throughout the country, around churches and other places of worship of minorities,'' Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, Director-General, Crisis Management Cell, Interior Ministry, said. ``We can deploy para-military troops wherever is required like in Sindh,'' he added. - Reuters

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Section  : International
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