Quetta, two dead and three wounded in church attack

It is the third episode of violence against the Christian community of the city. The victims are Rashid Khalid and Azhar Iqbal, who died in the race to the hospital. The attack took place in the Christian quarter of Isa Nagri.

Quetta (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least two Christians died yesterday during an attack perpetrated by armed criminals who opened fire in Isa Nagri, a Christian neighborhood near Brewery Road, in the city of Quetta.

DawnNewsTV interviewed Police Commissioner Abdur Razzaq Cheema,, who said that the attack was carried out while the faithful were leaving the local church. The agent reports the presence of four attackers, who arrived on motorcycles, entered the neighborhood and opened fire indiscriminately on Christians.

The authorities say that there were five Christians wounded in all, but then two of them - Rashid Khalid and Azhar Iqbal - died in the race to the Bolan Medical Complex hospital. The other three wounded people have been identified as Mehvish, Sunena and Samuel: the latter is a prominent figure of the local community.

This is the third attack against the Christian community in the space of a few months in Quetta. Last December, at least 9 people died in the attack on the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church, claimed by the Islamic State. The fundamentalists of the Caliphate also claimed an attack on a group of Christians on Easter Monday (2 April) as they travelled in a rickshaw in Shah Zaman Road, in which four people were killed.

Balochistan Interior Minister, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, condemned the attack and promised rapid responses. A police contingent was deployed at the scene and surrounded the area. Meanwhile, Christians launched a protest demonstration against the provincial government and called for the immediate arrest of the attackers. Amjad Faryad, uncle of Rashid Khalid (one of the victims), complains: "Why are we under attack? Terrorists strike us easily but our security forces and the provincial government remain silent spectators. "

• Pakistan
• Quetta
• attack
• church
• two dead
• Isa Nagri
• Islamic State
• Islamic fundamentalism
• religious freedom