QUETTA: At least four people including a woman belonging to Christian community were killed in a gun attack on Quetta’s Arbab Karam Khan Road.

The family was going to a nearby Bazaar in an auto rickshaw when unidentified assailants sprayed volley of bullets on the vehicle and fled from the scene, police said on Monday.

The deceased were identified as Tariq Maseeh, Imran Masheeh, Pervez Maseeh and Firdous Bibi.

According to police, the Christian family, who belonged to Punjab, had come to Quetta to celebrate Easter with their relatives.

The casings of 9mm bullets were recovered from the crime scene, police said.

It was the second firing incident in the city within 24 hours. Earlier in the day, six people were killed over a tribal dispute near Quetta’s Qambrani Road.

Yesterday, a Hazara man identified as Gul Hussain was killed in an attack on a taxi near Kandahari Bazaar.

Family demands justice

“The killers should be apprehended and made to suffer the same fate,” said Shama Perveen who lost her husband and two brothers in the terrorist assault on Monday evening.

Pervez Maseeh’s widow, Shama Parveen, told SAMAA that her brothers Imran and Tariq had come to Quetta after 12 years from Punjab to celebrate Easter with the family.

Shama’s husband, Pervez Masheed was an auto rickshaw driver and the sole bread winner for the family of nine.

“Pervez has left behind seven kids. I request the government to help the family,” another relative of deceased said.

‘Islamic State’ claims credit

According to the Associated Press, The ‘Islamic State’ group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Christians in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency.

However, the claim could not be independently verified.

CM Balochistan orders probe

Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo said he has ordered an investigation into the attack, adding that the government doesn’t want to see chaos in the province again.

“Some outlawed outfits even claimed the responsibility for cylinder blasts in the past,” the CM added.

The chief minister said the terrorists were also using locals against their own countrymen.

Sarfaraz Bugti, the provincial home minister said the terrorists were using Afghan soil against Pakistan.

Here are some deadly terrorist attacks carried by Daesh in the province:

ISIS, also known as Daesh, has been active in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province for last couple of years.

November, 2016

At least 52 people were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by the terrorist group at a Sufi shrine in Khuzdar area of Balochistan.

October, 2016

ISIS Gunmen stormed into a police training college in Quetta, killing 60 cadets. The officials in the province said it was a coordinated attack by outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Almi and Daesh.

August, 2016

Bilal Anwar Kasi, the president of Quetta Bar Association was targeted and killed in Quetta. Hours later, when hundreds of lawyers reached the hospital to pay homage to the deceased lawyer, a suicide bomber blew himself up and killed over 93 people. The attack was immediately claimed by Daesh but couldn’t be independently verified.

Additional reporting by Noor-ul-Arfeen and Zainuddin from Quetta