QUETTA, Pakistan — Two suicide bombers struck a church in Pakistan on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding more than 50 others, authorities said, in the first attack on a church claimed by the country’s Islamic State (ISIS) group affiliate. Baluchistan Police Chief Moazzam Ansari praised the response of security forces guarding the church, saying the attacker who made it inside was wounded and unable to reach the main building. The ISIS group later claimed responsibility for the attack on their Aamaq news agency, saying two “plungers” from their group had stormed the church, without providing further details. It was the first time the ISIS group claimed an attack on a church in Pakistan, though Muslim extremists have claimed church attacks in the past. In March 2015, two suicide bombers attacked two churches in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 15 people.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 18, 2017 00:56 UTC