Pakistan terror attack has local connections

Pocatello physician Dr. Fahim Rahim will host a candlelight vigil Thursday evening in the wake of a Taliban massacre in his hometown of Peshawar, Pakistan this week.

Dr. Rahim and his brother Naeem were born and raised in Peshawar, Pakistan where 148 people, most of them young children, were killed. The Rahims still have family living in the city.

The doctors operate the Idaho Kidney Institute in Pocatello.

“My mind’s racing,” Rahim told Local News 8 Wednesday. “Many family members of mine went to the same school. Some of them knew the teacher who was murdered.”

Rahim said his brother had visited Peshawar as recently as just a few weeks ago.

He said he hoped the community would join “in memory of these innocent lives that were lost and to pray for the comfort of the loved ones who were left behind.”

The vigil will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at his home at 2850 Summit Drive in Pocatello.

Rahim said, “If this will not drive us to action, regardless of our background, religion, or ideology, I don’t know what else will!”