Gunmen Saturday stormed a mosque in eastern Pakistan and fired at worshippers, killing two and wounding seven others, police said. The ambush took place in Bahawalpur city, some 400 km southwest of Lahore. “Three men armed with pistols entered Al-Qamar mosque and fired at worshippers and as a result of firing two men died while seven others were wounded,” said Bahawalpur district police chief Babar Bakht. “Two of the wounded were in critical condition,” he said, adding that the motive behind the attack was not immediately clear, nor anyone had claimed responsibility. Doctor Abu Ammar Aziz of Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur confirmed that two men with bullet wounds had died and that the two seriously wounded men were undergoing surgery. Bahawalpore is about 100 km west of Multan, a main city in eastern Pakistan. Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence often involving Sunni extremists targeting minority Shiite Muslims. But attacks on Sunni mosques are also common. Religious violence in Pakistan, mostly between majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shiites, has killed more than 4,000 people in the past decade.
