Worshippers killed in Pakistan church bombings

At least 14 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in bombings targeting two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

A Punjab Police spokesperson told Al Jazeera that a Roman Catholic church and a Christ Church in Lahore's Youhanabad area were hit in Sunday's suicide attacks.

At least 70 people were wounded, said Zahid Pervez, the provincial director general of health.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a Pakistani Taliban (TTP) splinter group, claimed responsibility for both the attacks. 

The group appeared to have timed the attacks to cause maximum devastation, as the two churches were packed with Christians attending Sunday services when the bombs went off.

A spokesman for the faction said it was the work of two suicide bombers.

"The Tehreek-e-Taliban Jamaat-ur-Ahrar accepts responsibility for the suicide attacks on the churches in Lahore," Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Taliban faction, said in a statement emailed to reporters.

"We promise that until an Islamic system is put into place in Pakistan such attacks will continue. If Pakistan's rulers think they can stop us, they should try to do so," the statement added.

Read more at Aljazeera