A police man directs families to safety following the terrifying attack in Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in Quetta, Pakistan Dec. 17. | Photo: Reuters
© ReutersA police man directs families to safety following the terrifying attack in Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in Quetta, Pakistan Dec. 17.
An attack on a Methodist church in Quetta, Pakistan by a pair of suicide bombers killed at least 8 deaths and wounded 45 others on Sunday according to officials.

Two gunmen approached the packed cathedral armed with explosive vests and firearms just as service began at Bethel Memorial Methodist Church on Sunday morning.

The pair were stopped at the gate by church guards and a dispute ensued, causing one attacker to detonate his vest while his partner exchanged gunfire with police before being shot down.

"People were fleeing to the corners [of the church]. I couldn't understand what was happening, it happened so suddenly," one witness told Al Jazeera.

"There were nearly 400 people inside the church, but the attackers couldn't get inside the services," said Balochistan Police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari. "We killed one of them, and the other one exploded himself after police wounded him," he said, adding that had the guards not protected the church, hundreds would have been killed.

"We have cleared the immediate area around the church, and we are now clearing a peripheral area further out," Jah said, and children have been moved to a shelter.

Authorities say that at least one other attackers fled the scene and an investigation is currently underway. Among those killed were two women and a church guard was fatally wounded.


Comment: The article isn't clear because it states two gunmen approached the church, one was detonated his explosive vest and the other was shot down; does this mean there were more than two people attacking the church?


"Attack of terrorists on Zarghoon road church in Quetta is condemned. Pakistan's resolve against terrorism cannot be deterred by these cowardly acts," Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Mohammed Faisal wrote on Twitter.

The church had been on the alert list as a Christian place of worship, the police chief said, adding that the sect has been known to be targeted in the past. The Islamic State has taken responsibility for the attack, BBC reports.



Comment: We've seen a rise in attacks on places of worship of various faiths and all over the world. The question is who benefits from these attacks since it never seems to garner much support for any particular cause other than to cause fear and chaos.

The US has a long history of backing of terrorists to do their dirty work, seen most recently as ISIS in Syria. So if ISIS is claiming credit for the attack then we can assume this was an attack on Pakistan by the US deepstate as a warning to a government to get back in line, to create social discord amongst the chosen population, as well as to excuse their clampdown on freedoms at home and abroad: