Report of aid workers' deaths in Pakistan may be false

A report of three Christian aid workers being killed by the Taliban in Pakistan has yet to be confirmed and could be false, reports Baptist Press.

Compass Direct reported Aug. 27 that the aid workers -- supposedly in the country to assist in flood relief -- were killed after their vehicle was attacked and they were kidnapped Aug. 23. Compass Direct quoted Pakistan Swat District Coordination Officer Atif-ur-Rehman, who claimed the bodies were recovered Aug. 25.

The organization that employed the workers requested that the organization's name and the workers' names be withheld, Compass reported, "for security reasons." Compass said the military sources "who withheld news of the deaths from electronic and print media to avoid panicking other relief workers granted permission to Compass to publish it in limited form." BosNewsLife, another news service that reports on Christian persecution, also ran a story quoting Rehman as saying three workers were killed.

But the U.S. embassy in Pakistan is denying it has received any bodies, and the Pakistani government and army also have not confirmed the report, CNSNews.com reported Sept. 2.

"To be clear, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad has not been notified of the kidnapping or murder of any American citizens, including relief workers," U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire told CNSNews in an e-mail.

Compass quotes Rizwan Paul, president of the advocacy organization Life for All, as saying the bodies had been sent to Islamabad "under the supervision of the Pakistan Army." Paul stood by the story.

"Pakistan military and other sources are trying their best to stop the news from getting out," Paul told CNSNews.com.

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TAGS: Pakistan Christian aid workers Taliban U.S. Embassy in Islamabad Christian persecution

[09/05/2010]

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