03 April 2018, The Tablet

Four Christians killed in militant attack in Pakistan


The family had gathered to celebrate Easter together when the attack took place


Four Christians killed in militant attack in Pakistan

Four members of a Christian family have been killed in a militant attack in southern Pakistan.

Pervaiz Masih, Tariq Masih, Imran Masih and Firdous Bibi were shot near their relative's home in the Shah Zaman area of Quetta on 2 April, Ucan news agency reports. A 10-year-old girl was also injured in the attack.

"Four Christian relatives were going to a nearby market on an auto-rickshaw when two unknown gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on them," police officer Moazzam Jah Ansari told Ucan news. "It was a targeted attack and an act of terrorism," he continued.

The family had gathered to celebrate Easter together when the attack took place.

Islamic State (IS) militants have since claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried by their Aamaq news agency, Ucan news reports.

In December of last year, a suicide bomb and gun attack targeting a Sunday service at a church in Quetta killed at least eight people and wounded over 56.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for that attack in a statement, but provided no proof of its involvement.

In October, a hand grenade was thrown at a Pentecostal church in the same area.

PICTURE: Men put the body of a man from Christian family into an ambulance April 2 at a hospital morgue in Quetta, Pakistan. Four members of a family were killed in a militant attack a day after the minority community celebrated Easter. (CNS photo/Naseer Ahmed, Reuters) 


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