https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/257231-explosion-rocks-quetta
Web Desk December 17, 2017 Eight killed, 40 injured in Quetta Church bombing Policemen take position on Zarghoon road after an explosion. Photo: Geo.tv QUETTA: At least eight people were killed and 40 other injured in a suicide attack on a Church on Zarghoon road, according to Geo TV on Sunday. Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraq Bugti told Geo News a suicide bomber was gunned down near the entrance of the Methodist Church and the other blew himself up in the courtyard of the Church after being shot and injured by police. Police said two attackers managed to escape and they were hunting for them . The minister later said in a tweet that the forces took 16 minutes to complete the operation IG Muazzim Ansari said the police successfully neutralized the attackers at the entrance of the Church where 400 worshipers were present. Police and paramilitary forces surrounded the Church after the explosion and heavy gunfire took place. TV footage showed the forces evacuating men, women and children who were attending the Sunday prayers. The area was reverberating with heavy gunfire , and an state of emergency was declared in the hospitals of the provincial capital. The explosion was so loud that it was heard all across the city. Heavy contingent of Frontier Crops and Balochistan police were taking part in the operation, private TV channels reported. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has condemned the attack and ordered the authorities to provide assistance to the victims . Quetta has witnessed a surge in terror attacks in the past few months. Last month, DIG Hamid Shakeel Sabir was killed in a suicide attack. He was the third police officer in the past four months to be killed in a terror attack. On October 18, eight policemen were killed after unidentified attackers rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their truck. Over 20 others were wounded in the bombing. In August this year, a massive suicide explosion, targeting Pakistan Army personnel in Quetta, left 15 people dead – including seven civilians – and injured at least 20 people. In June this year, fourteen people, including seven policemen, were killed and 21 injured in a suicide car bombing near the office of the inspector general of police Balochistan on Gulistan Road
