At least eight dead in Methodist church attack in Pakistan

 

Two attackers in suicide bomb and gun attack intercepted at church’s entrance

(Five have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Pakistan (Photo: Naseer Ahmad/Reuters)
(Five have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Pakistan (Photo: Naseer Ahmad/Reuters)

A suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Quetta, Pakistan, has left at least eight people dead and more than a dozen wounded, according to reports.

The two attackers, who were wearing explosive vest, were intercepted and stopped at the church’s entrance, before they could kill more people in the church in which more than 200 worshippers were present, Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister in the region, said.

One of the men detonated his bomb vest and blew himself up, while the other was stopped following an exchange of gunfire with police.

The Christian minority in Pakistan has often been subjected to terrorist attacks, resulting in guards having been placed near the church in Quetta.

The city, in the Balochistan province, is home to several religious or separatist groups, some of which come from across the nearby Afghani border.