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Multiple casualties in Pakistan Methodist church attack | Multiple casualties in Pakistan Methodist church attack |
(35 minutes later) | |
A suicide bombing and gun attack on a church in Pakistan has killed several people, reports say. | |
The attack happened in the city of Quetta, some 65km (40 miles) from the border with Afghanistan. | The attack happened in the city of Quetta, some 65km (40 miles) from the border with Afghanistan. |
Five people were killed and 15 wounded, the AFP news agency said, quoting police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema. | Five people were killed and 15 wounded, the AFP news agency said, quoting police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema. |
The attack happened while prayers were being held in the Methodist church, the region's home minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, told local media. | The attack happened while prayers were being held in the Methodist church, the region's home minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, told local media. |
He said two suicide bombers had been stopped near the entrance of the church. | |
Had the men not been stopped there could have been hundreds of casualties, he said in a tweet. | |
Reports carried by multiple news outlets say there was an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement following the initial explosion. | |
Security forces are conducting a search operation and have surrounded the site of the attack, in the city's high-security zone, local Urdu-language TV channels report. | |
A spokesman for the foreign affairs ministry, Dr Mohammed Faisal, condemned the attack. | |
Attacks in the region are not uncommon, often targeting the Hazara Shia community in suicide bombings. | Attacks in the region are not uncommon, often targeting the Hazara Shia community in suicide bombings. |
But Pakistan's Christian minority has also frequently been the subject of militant attacks. |