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Multiple casualties in Pakistan Methodist church attack Deadly attack on Methodist church in Pakistan
(35 minutes later)
A suicide bombing and gun attack on a church in Pakistan has killed several people, reports say. A suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Pakistan has killed at least five 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. More than a dozen people were also wounded after gunmen wearing explosive vests tried to enter the building.
The attack happened while prayers were being held in the Methodist church, the region's home minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, told local media. The two attackers were intercepted at the entrance, the region's home minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, said on Twitter.
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 added.
Had the men not been stopped there could have been hundreds of casualties, he said in a tweet. One of the men detonated his bomb vest and the other was stopped in a gunfight with police.
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.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.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 mainly Sunni Muslim region are not uncommon, often targeting the Hazara Shia Muslim community in suicide bombings.
But Pakistan's Christian minority has also frequently been the subject of militant attacks. But Pakistan's Christian minority has also frequently been the subject of militant attacks, and guards had been placed near the church in Quetta as a result.
The Balochistan province is home to unrest from several groups with religious or separatist groups, some of which cross the border from nearby Afghanistan.