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STORY: Eighteen-year-old Kanwal had just returned home from the hospital with her newborn -

when a vigilante mob launched an attack on her home in a Christian area of eastern Pakistan.

Kanwal fled barefoot with her family and narrowly escaped...

...as their home was torched and everything inside was lost - including their pet birds.

"We should be shifted somewhere else. We are very scared of our neighbours. They behaved very badly with us. We don’t want them to destroy whatever little we have left."

Nearly 160 people have been arrested since Wednesday’s attack on the Christian community.

Residents said the hours-long rampage consisted of people carrying iron rods, knives and sticks.

They set fire to churches and scores of homes.

The police said the attack was triggered after someone took allegedly desecrated pages of the Koran to a mosque prayer leader.

This was followed by calls of punishment for blasphemy.

Police have arrested two Christian men accused of blasphemy and are investigating.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan but no one has ever been executed.

Although numerous people accused of blasphemy have been lynched by outraged mobs in the past.

Armed paramilitary troopers have fanned out to restore calm.

And authorities have pledged financial help for the Christian community, which forms less than 2% of Pakistan's population of 241 million.

Many are afraid to return home but, still in shock, do not know where to rebuild their lives.

For now, Kanwal’s young brothers and sisters will not return to school, their mother Kiran Boota has said:

"Today was the first day of school after summer vacations but I did not send them to school because of fear. My kids were saying: ’Mama, our education will suffer’ - I told them you will get education if you stay alive."