Twin bombs kill 10 people outside Pakistani church

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) – Twin blasts exploded near a church in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday as worshippers were gathered inside, killing 10 people, security officials said, in the latest attack against religious minorities in the country.

In the tense aftermath, angry mobs burned to death one person they believed was involved in the attack and tried to lynch another, said the Deputy Inspector General for Lahore, Haider Ashraf. Two police who were protecting the church were also killed in the explosions, he said.

At least 48 people were wounded, hospital official Anjum Habib Vohra said.

The explosions occurred in quick succession in the Christian neighborhood of Youhana Abad during Sunday services inside a Roman Catholic church, Ashraf said.

A spokesman for a Pakistani Taliban faction claimed responsibility, saying it was the work of two suicide bombers. But Ashraf said police were still investigating whether it was a planted bomb or a suicide attack.

One unidentified witness told Pakistan’s Geo television that the main gate to the church was closed so people were using a smaller gate.

“One bomber exploded himself near that gate, that created chaos and during the course there was another blast,” he said.

In the aftermath of the blasts the mood quickly turned violent. It’s a sign of how on edge much of the country is after years of militant violence including an attack on a Peshawar school in December that killed 150 people – mostly students.

Local television footage showed an angry crowd beating a person they thought was connected to the attack.

Militants appear to be targeting minorities more intensively recently, including a string of mosques belonging to members of the Shiite Muslim minority sect. In 2013, twin blasts at a church in Peshawar killed 85 people.

“There will be more of such attacks,” warned Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Taliban faction, in a statement emailed to reporters.

Life in Pakistan can be fraught with danger for religious minorities, especially Christians. They have been targeted by extremist Sunni Muslim militants who object to their faith and see them closely aligned with the West. They are also often discriminated against in the wider society.