Sukkur (AsiaNews) – A mob of hundreds of enraged Muslims today assaulted and looted two churches in Sukkur, a city in the southern province of Sindh. The assailants were stopped by police a few minutes before they could set the buildings on fire.

According to local sources, the violence was ignited by an alleged case of blasphemy: a Christian boy was said to have thrown pages of the Qu'ran in a trash can. The local Catholic Church, together with Protestant denominations, has often described blasphemy laws as "discriminatory and useless".

Salahuddin Haider, spokesman for the provincial government, said no one was injured in the attacks. "They tried to set the churches on fire but police dispersed them," he said. "It seems clear that the disorder erupted in reaction to rumours claiming that a Christian teenager threw pages of the Qu'ran into a trash can. The crowd blockaded some streets but now the situation, even if tense, is under control."

After the attack in Sangla Hill [where a mob of Muslims destroyed the properties of local Christians because of an alleged case of blasphemy], the National Justice and Peace Commission organized a large rally in Lahore to call for the abrogation of the blasphemy law and the notorious Hudood ordinances.

The so-called blasphemy law refers to sections b and c of article 295 in Pakistan's Penal Code. The first one refers to offences against the Qu'ran and carries life sentences; the second one involves defamatory actions against the prophet Muhammad that are punishable by the death penalty. Since 1996, the year when the law came into force, dozens of Christians have been killed for defaming Islam, 560 people were charged and 30 are still awaiting sentencing. Often the law is used to eliminate adversaries or enemies.

The "Hudood" ordinances are inspired by the Qu'ran. They punish behaviour deemed incompatible with Islam such as adultery, gambling and drinking alcohol. Whipping and stoning are the usual means to mete out justice.

Amendments approved in October 2004 – at the behest of the Catholic Church – provide for harsher verdicts for honour killings (life imprisonment or death penalty) but often they are not applied.

Meanwhile, calm now seems to have returned to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state (in Nigeria), where 16 people were killed by an enraged crowd of thousands of Islamic integralists, who took to the streets to condemn the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammed. The authorities have confirmed that a curfew is in place and according to Usman Choima, local government spokesman, "the city is calm and those who wanted to go to places of worship could do so without being attacked or intimidated by anyone."