The assault in Quetta, the capital of south-western Baluchistan province, on Sunday also wounded about 60 worshippers. It was the first attack on a church claimed by the IS affiliate in Pakistan.
Mass funerals of those killed in the attack were to be held in Quetta later on Monday. The provincial police chief, Moazzam Ansari, said security forces were trying to find those who orchestrated the attack.
About 400 worshippers were attending the service when two bombers carrying assault rifles stormed the church, triggering a gun battle in which one assailant was killed by police guards and the other opened fire at worshippers and detonated his explosives vest.
The Islamic State affiliate initially only claimed responsibility for the attack but a second statement posted on the IS-linked Aamaq news agency said two IS “martyrdom-seeking fighters clad in explosive vests and carrying machine guns and hand grenades attacked the church”.
One of the attackers detonated his vest among the “Crusaders while the other was killed in a clash with the renegade Pakistani security forces”, it said.
IS has claimed several attacks in Pakistan in recent years though Islamabad denies the group’s presence and claims it has no organised network in the country.
Prime Minister Shahif Khaqan Abbasi and army chief General Qamer Javed Bajwa condemned the attack.
Naseem Masih, who was wounded in the assault, said one of the attackers reached…
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