ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Foreign Office has said six Pakistanis were dead and three were missing in shootings at two New Zealand mosques on Friday ostensibly carried out by a white nationalist extremist who live streamed the assault and posted a racist manifesto online.
Around 50 people were killed in the twin attacks that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was quick to describe as a terrorist act. A list of people missing in the attack released by New Zealand Red Cross includes nationals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
"The Ministry expresses its deepest condolences and sympathies with the families of the victims of this atrocious terrorist attack," the foreign office said in a statement in which it listed the six Pakistanis killed in the assault. "The latest information about other three missing Pakistanis will be shared once their identity is confirmed by the local authorities."
Earlier, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, spokesman for the foreign office, had tweeted the names of nine Pakistanis missing after the New Zealand attacks. In a separate post he said four Pakistanis injured in the assaults were being treated in hospital.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was “shocked” at the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand.
“This reaffirms what we have always maintained: that terrorism does not have a religion. Prayers go to the victims and their families,” Khan said on Twitter. In a second post he added: “I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 (where) 1.3 billion Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed solidarity with the families of victims and survivors: “We have faced the specter of terrorism for decades and understand the pain and agony of the bereaved families. An attack on those praying in a mosque is like an attack on the whole of humanity.”
In a statement released soon after the attacks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Pakistan views this terrorist attack as an assault on the values of freedom of conscience and association common to all mankind. Pakistan earnestly hopes that the government of New Zealand will take immediate action to bring the perpetrators and abettors of this terror attack to justice, and ensure the safety and security of the affected communities.”
Members of the Bangladesh national cricket team, in Christchurch for a match against New Zealand, were en route to Al Noor Mosque for Friday Prayer when the shooting began. They narrowly missed it.
