Paramilitary forces have cordoned off and are guarding a Christian settlement in eastern Pakistan where a Muslim mob vandalized and set fire to churches and several homes after two residents of the settlement were accused of desecrating the Koran, police and witnesses said today.

The attack took place yesterday, Wednesday, in Janwala in the industrial area of ​​Faisalabad and continued for more than 10 hours without any intervention by the police officers present there, residents and community leaders complained. Police denied the charge, saying security forces prevented a worsening of the situation.

The agitators were demanding the handover of the two accused, who had fled their homes.

Residents said thousands of Muslims led by local clerics wielded crowbars, clubs, knives and daggers during the riots.

A statement from the provincial government said that paramilitary forces were deployed to assist the police in controlling the situation.

Troops have cordoned off the Christian settlement, sealing off all entry and exit points with barbed wire, according to a Reuters TV cameraman.

More than 100 people believed to be involved in the riots have been arrested, the provincial government said in a statement, adding that an investigation had been ordered into the incident.

Yasir Bhatti, a 31-year-old Pakistani Christian, said he fled his home, which is next to one of the churches that were set on fire.

“They broke the windows, the doors and took out the refrigerators, sofas, chairs and other furniture to collapse them in front of the church and burn them. They also burned and desecrated Bibles,” he said in a telephone interview with AFP.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and although no one has yet been executed on the charge, many accused of blasphemy have been lynched by angry mobs. Also a former provincial governor and a minister in charge of minorities have been shot dead after being accused of blasphemy.

The United States expressed “deep concern about the targeting of churches and homes,” Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Wednesday.