Two suicide bombers attacked a church in the southwestern city of Quetta yesterday, killing five people and wounding 18 others, officials said.
Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister for Baluchistan province, said hundreds of worshippers were attending services at the church ahead of Christmas. He said the attackers clashed with security forces, with one assailant killed at the entrance while the other made it inside.
Baluchistan police chief Moazzam Ansari confirmed the death toll. He praised the response of security forces guarding the church, saying the attacker who made it inside was wounded and unable to reach the main building. “Otherwise the loss of lives could have been much higher,” he told reporters.
Quetta police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said a search is underway for two suspected accomplices who escaped.
Local television showed ambulances and security patrols racing to the scene while women and children were being led out of the church’s main gate. Hospitals officials said two women were among the dead while another five women and two children were among the wounded.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Muslim extremists have targeted Pakistan’s Christian minority in the past. MDT/AP
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