A terrorist attack was carried out on October 10, 2025, at the administrative headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan, a religious minority. During Friday prayers, an armed assailant stormed the Bait-ul-Mahdi mosque, which is part of the headquarters complex, in the city of Rabwah, opened fire on worshippers, and seriously injured several people. Only the intervention of volunteer security forces prevented even greater bloodshed. The city is officially called Chenab Nagar and is located in north-central Punjab province. This attack is not only an act of extremist violence, but a shocking example of the systematic persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has lived for decades under state-sanctioned discrimination, legal exclusion, and social ostracism.

The repeated attacks on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community reveal the lack of protection from state institutions despite the well-known threat. The Punjab provincial government has failed to implement preventative security measures, even though hate campaigns and violence against Ahmadis have been documented for years. This inaction is not only a moral failing, but also a violation of international human rights obligations, particularly the protections guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a signatory. The attack in Rabwah is a wake-up call. He shows how dangerous it is when states neglect their duty to protect and tolerate extremism, how vulnerable minorities are when their existence is criminalized, and at the same time how urgently the international community must act to defend freedom of religion, human dignity and the rule of law.

Saba Rana
Human rights expert at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Lawyers Association.