by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A young Christian man in Punjab, Pakistan, was murdered earlier this month by a Muslim neighbor whose historically violent behavior and claimed hatred of Christians and Jews worsened after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Hamas Palestinian terror group, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Twenty-year-old Farhan ul-Qamar was killed by his Muslim neighbor Muhammad Zubair in the early hours of Nov. 9. According to Asia News, the motive for the killing may have been Farhan’s recent social media support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas. Zubari broke into Farhan’s home at around 3am and shot him.
The murderer then held Farhan’s family hostage for nearly an hour, refusing to let them call the police or an ambulance: medics later told reporters they may have been able to save Farhan if they had got to him sooner, ICC said.
“Zubair’s violence seems to have worsened in recent weeks, escalating in response to the current conflict in Israel and Gaza,” ICC said in its report. “He has a reputation that, even after hearing three shots fired in the home, neighbors remained inside for fear of being his next victims. Other Christians in the village have fled their homes with the same fear in an attempt to remove themselves from the community for their own protection.”
Zubair was arrested soon after the killing and remains in police custody, ICC said.
Islamic-majority Pakistan ranks 7th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.