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ISIS murders 4 members of Christian family in Pakistan

PAKISTAN FUNERAL

BANARAS KHAN I AFP

Pakistani Christians attend a funeral of a victim a day after an attack by gunmen in Quetta on April 3, 2018. Four Christians were shot dead in southwestern Pakistan on April 2, police said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. The incident occurred in a Christian-majority neighbourhood in the city of Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province, and officials said it appeared to be a targeted attack on the religious minority. / AFP PHOTO / BANARAS KHAN

Zelda Caldwell - published on 04/04/18

The attack took place the day after Easter

ISIS has claimed that it is responsible for a terrorist attack on a Christian family in Quetta, Pakistan, that left four dead on the day after Easter.

The family members had been riding in a rickshaw when gunmen on two motorcycles opened fire at them. Three men and one woman were killed and a 10-year old girl was taken to the hospital, according to an NPR report.

“Four Christian relatives were going to a nearby market on an auto-rickshaw when two unknown gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on them,” police officer Moazzam Jah Ansari told ucanews.com. “It was a targeted attack and an act of terrorism.”

The murders took place in the same town where, a week before Christmas last year, two suicide bombers attacked a Christian church, killing 9 people and wounding 56. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack.

According to the ucanews.com report, Pervaiz Masih, one of the family members killed, was a rickshaw driver who was taking his relatives out for ice cream when they were attacked outside his home.

“Pervaiz Masih had been living in Quetta for 10 years. His relatives came from Lahore and Dubai for the first time to celebrate Easter with him on March 29,” a neighbor, Aftab, said.

“They came back from a dinner and were going out to eat ice cream in a nearby market when gunmen sprayed bullets at them. The bodies are being sent back to Lahore for burial.”

Tags:
Christians in PakistanIslamist Militants
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