At least nine people were killed and 30 injured in a suicide attack on the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church on Quetta's Zarghoon Road on Sunday afternoon.
All casualties, which included
women and children, were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta. Speaking on
Sunday evening, Hospital Spokesman Waseem Baig said the death toll had
risen to nine.
At least two suicide attackers had struck the Bethel Memorial Church
while Sunday service was ongoing. There were 400 worshipers inside the
church when the assault started, Balochistan's Inspector General of
Police (IG) Moazzam Ansari and Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti confirmed.
Police assigned to the church's security reacted in a timely
manner and averted a much larger tragedy, IG Ansari claimed.
Eyewitnesses and provincial lawmaker Aniqa Irfan, who had reached the
church soon after the attack, corroborated the claim.
An
eyewitness who was present inside the church at the time of the attack
said the attackers had scuffled with the building's guard when their
attempt to enter the main hall undetected failed.
When
they shot the guard dead, police officials posted around the church
noticed something was amiss and opened fire on the attackers.
One
of the attackers was reported to have then detonated his suicide vest
at the church's main door after receiving bullet injuries. Another was
shot dead near the church's entrance by security forces, the police
chief said.
The injuries caused to worshipers were
mainly the result of wooden splinters from the door and glass blown out
of the church's windows due to the explosion, IG Ansari maintained.
Provincial and security officials repeatedly stressed that
if the attackers had managed to breach the church's doors, the death
toll could have been much higher. They lauded the quick response of
security forces posted to the church, which they said had prevented the
attackers from causing maximum damage.
The director
general of civil defence said late in the afternoon that the two
attackers — who officials believe to have been between 16 and 20 years
of age — had strapped 15 kilogrammes of explosives to their bodies. One
successfully detonated his explosive vest, while the other was defused.
The
Bethel Memorial Church has been the target of a terrorist attack in the
past. Security had been beefed up for the church after the last attack,
which occurred a few years ago. The church is located in the city's
high-security zone.
