QUETTA: Two members of the minority Christian community were killed and six others injured when assailants riding two motorcycles opened fire on worshippers returning home after attending prayers in a church on Sunday.

The incident took place on a street near the church in the Essa Nagri area.

A police official said the attackers appeared suddenly and opened fire on the group of people moments after they had come out of the church. He said the attackers managed to escape from the area.

Sources said that one of the victims died on the spot while the other during treatment in the hospital.

Soon after receiving information about the incident personnel of police and Frontier Corps rushed to the area and shifted the injured to the Bolan Medical College Hospital.

The deceased were identified as Azhar Masih and Rohail Masih, both residents of the area where the attack took place.

The Sunday’s shooting came just weeks after four Christians, including a woman, were shot dead in the city, an attack claimed by the militant Islamic State group.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the Sunday’s attack.

Carrying bodies of the victims, a large number of Christian community’s members staged a protest outside the hospital.

They claimed that no doctor was present in the hospital when the injured were taken there.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2018