Balochistan: 2 Christians Killed in Pakistan Shooting

QUETTA: Two members of Pakistan’s Christian minority were killed Sunday in a drive-by shooting in southwestern Pakistan.

Unidentified gunmen shot at a group of people leaving a church in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province.

Eight others were injured in the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, though Islamist militants have carried out similar attacks on religious minorities in the region in the past.

Earlier this month, a day after Easter, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in which four Christians were killed.

Baluchistan province has experienced an increase in militant attacks in recent months.

Baluch separatist militants, the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, and extremists linked to the Afghan Taliban allegedly operate out of the Pakistani province.

Pakistan authorities said IS loyalists are using bases in “ungoverned” areas of neighboring Afghanistan for attacks against Pakistan.

IS also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a packed church in Quetta last December in which nine worshipers were killed, and dozens more were wounded.

Courtesy: VOA