PAKISTAN’S police arrested 129 Muslims today after a mob attacked churches and homes of minority Christians following an alleged desecration of the Koran.

Residents of the city of Jaranwala in the Faisalabad district were forced to flee their homes as the mob began destroying buildings on Wednesday.

They returned today to find at least one church burnt, four damaged and two dozen homes scorched.

Government officials said that all of the damaged churches and homes would be restored within a week and those who suffered losses would be compensated.

Delegations of Muslim clerics arrived in Jaranwala to help calm the situation, as troops and police patrolled the area.

The rampage started after some local Muslims claimed they had seen a local Christian and his friend tearing out pages from a Koran, throwing them on the ground and writing insulting remarks on other pages.

Police say they are trying to find the individuals to determine whether they desecrated the holy book.

Under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death.

Domestic and international human rights groups say that blasphemy allegations have been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.