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Deadly attack on Methodist church in Pakistan Deadly attack on Methodist church in Pakistan
(about 4 hours later)
A suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Pakistan has killed at least five people, reports say. A suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Pakistan has killed at least eight people, officials say.
The attack happened in the city of Quetta, some 65km (40 miles) from the border with Afghanistan. Militants stormed the church, which was packed with worshippers at the time, in the city of Quetta, some 65km (40 miles) from the Afghan border.
More than a dozen people were also wounded after gunmen wearing explosive vests tried to enter the building. The Islamic State group has said it was had carried out for the attack.
The two attackers were intercepted at the entrance, the region's home minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, said on Twitter. Two suicide bombers were stopped at the entrance to the church, Sarfraz Bugti, the Balochistan region's home minister, said.
Had the men not been stopped there could have been hundreds of casualties, he added. Had the men got any further, there could have been hundreds of casualties, he added.
One of the men detonated his bomb vest and the other was stopped in a gunfight with police.One of the men detonated his bomb vest and the other was stopped in a gunfight with police.
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. Two more attackers fled and a search operation is under way, according to reports.
Dozens of people are known to have been wounded in the attack, which took place during a Sunday service at Bethel Memorial Methodist Church.
A witness told the BBC that several children attending Sunday school had taken shelter while firing continued around them.
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 mainly Sunni Muslim region are not uncommon, often targeting the Hazara Shia Muslim 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, and guards had been placed near the church in Quetta as a result.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.