PAKISTAN

Four Christians killed by Islamic State in the city of Quetta

News has emerged that the Christians who were killed last week were murdered by Islamic State in what is believed to be a religiously motivated attack. A police source said that four Christians from the same family were shot dead in the city of Quetta, in western Pakistan, in an attack on this minority in the Islamic country

Three brothers and the wife of one of them died, while a girl, daughter of one of the victims, was wounded and admitted to the Civil Hospital of Quetta. Police spokesman Mohamed Ramzan said the attack took place on Easter Monday night when unknown gunmen approached the vehicle in which the family was travelling and opened fire.

The Islamic State has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the violent attack. A disguised cell of militants “managed to attack a number of Christian fighters,” the extremist organization said.

Quetta, the capital of the province of Balochistan, is one of the most troubled places in Pakistan, with the presence of armed separatist groups, Taliban factions and jihadist groups. The Christian minority of Pakistan, less than 4 million people in a country of almost 200 million, has traditionally been discriminated against and been the victim of violent attacks.

Last December an attack on a church in Quetta shortly before Christmas resulted in 10 deaths and 44 wounded. In March 2016, 71 people were killed in a suicide attack in a park in the eastern city of Lahore, in an attack that the Taliban group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed was aimed at Christians celebrating Easter.

 
ACN Malta