Islamic State claims attack on Christian family in Pakistan

From Reuters, CNN, Aljazeera  and The Nation

Quetta, Pakistan (Reuters) – The militant group Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for killing four members of a Christian family in southwestern Pakistan. A statement issued by the group claimed that militants belonging to ISIS fired on the group of Christians as they were travelling in the city of Quetta, killing four on Monday.

An Islamic State press statement released on Tuesday said that a “covert unit” of ISIS militants “managed to target a number of the combatant Christians.” The statement adds that the militants “shot them with a pistol, which resulted in the killing of four of them, and all praise is due to Allah”

The family was travelling in a rickshaw when armed men on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire in Quetta city, the capital of Baluchistan province. The family had come to visit relatives in Quetta’s Shahzaman road area, where a large number of the city’s Christian community lives. A woman was rushed to hospital. Her father and three cousins were killed. All the victims, including the rickshaw driver, were members of the local Christian community, police officer Muhammad Anwar told CNN.

“It appears to have been a targeted attack,” provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters. “It was an act of terrorism.”

The family had travelled to Quetta to celebrate Easter with relatives, a family member told Al Jazeera. “They were guests of ours, they came from Punjab [province] to celebrate Easter. As they left the house to go to the bazaar after dinner […] they were fired upon,” said Tariq Masih, a relative to the victims. The deceased were identified as Tariq Maseeh, Imran Masheeh, Pervez Maseeh and Firdous Bibi.

The attack came a day after Pakistan’s Christian community celebrated Easter on Sunday…In December, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers stormed a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding up to 56, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.