Church blast in SW Pakistan kills 8, injures 44

QUETTA, PAKISTAN - DECEMBER 17: At least eight people were killed and 44 injured, including women and children, when a church in southwestern Pakistan was stormed by heavily armed militants on December 17, 2017, officials and local media reported. The blast took place at 12 noon (0700GMT) when some 400 people people were attending Sunday services at a church in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Balochistan province, said Abdul Razzak Cheema, the province’s police chief. Nine of the injured are in critical condition, according to a spokesman of the civil hospital in Quetta. When four militants stormed the church, one blew himself up at the entrance, and another was shot dead by security forces, said Cheema. Two escaped, and following an operation to rescue the churchgoers, efforts are underway to apprehend the fugitives, he added. (Footage by Mazhar Chandio/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)