Pakistani police arrest man accused of killing two minority Ahmadis in Punjab province

LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistani police arrested a man on Sunday accused of killing two members of the Ahmadi minority in separate attacks in the eastern province of Punjab, police and officials said.

The arrest came a day after the suspect shot dead two Ahmadis several hours apart in Mandi Bahauddin, a district in the eastern Punjab province, said district police chief Ghulam Moinuddin. He said the suspect confessed to the killings under questioning and faces murder charges.

Why the suspect targeted the two men remained unclear.

The victims belonged to the Ahmadi faith, which was founded in the 19th century on the Indian subcontinent by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, whose followers believed in a prophet.

In a statement, Amir Mahmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community, condemned Saturday’s killings. He said the attacker was a student at a seminary and that a campaign against the Ahmadiyya community was underway.

Mahmood called for action against those involved in hate speech against his community.

“Why doesn’t the government do anything about them?” he asked.

The Pakistani parliament declared the Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. Since then, they have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists, earning them condemnation from domestic and foreign human rights groups.

Ahmadis’ homes and places of worship have been attacked by Sunni militants who consider them heretics.