QUETTA, Pakistan - Two suicide bombs that killed at least 23 people and wounded 82 affected nearby church structures.
The Sept. 7 blasts near the home of a top paramilitary official also shattered windows in the residence of Bishop Victor Gnanapragasam, local offices of Caritas Pakistan, and three Catholic schools. The roof of the computer laboratory of a Catholic high school also caved in.
The schools were closed immediately.
The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks, to avenge the recent arrest of a senior al-Qaida leader by Pakistani security forces in Quetta.
"I had just taken the roll call when the blast echoed; the children started crying and screaming. 'It's an earthquake,' they shouted," said Uzma Tahmeen, a Catholic teacher.
"I closed the door to avoid panic and waited till the parents arrived to collect the children," she added. "When I stepped outside, I could see body parts lying inside a giant smoke tomb rising in the sky."
Oblate Father Cecil Paul said he felt the vibration of the blasts in his parish office, located about a kilometer from the targeted site.
"Our country has reached the (nadir) of instability now. Violence continues unendingly after the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden in the Northern province," he said.
The priest also suggested a "biased" syllabus in Islamic seminaries was spreading sectarianism in the country.
"The unchecked ideals taught ... are now showing their effects," he said.
