The Islamic State has claimed that a "covert unit" of group was responsible for the attack that resulted in the deaths of four Christians in the Pakistani province of Balochistan on Monday.
The attack reportedly targeted a family who was traveling in a rickshaw in the provincial capital of Quetta. Armed men on a motorcycle reportedly opened fire on them, resulting in the deaths of four Christians.
Channel News Asia reported that a woman was rushed to a hospital. The four victims killed were believed to be her father and three cousins.
UCA News identified the victims as Pervaiz Masih, Tariq Masih, Imran Masih and Firdous Bibi. The news agency further noted that a 10-year-old was injured in the attack.
"Four Christian relatives were going to a nearby market on an auto-rickshaw when two unknown gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on them. It was a targeted attack and an act of terrorism," police officer Moazzam Jah Ansari told UCA News.
The family was reportedly visiting relatives in Quetta's Shahzaman Road area, a community with a high concentration of Christians.
ISIS issued a statement on Tuesday claiming that its members "managed to target a number of the combatant Christians," CNN reports.
The group went on to say that militants "shot them with a pistol, which resulted in the killing of four of them, and all praise is due to Allah."
While ISIS has not provided any evidence to prove its claim, the city has been increasingly targeted in attacks by the terror group's affiliates.
The group's affiliates in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan were said to be drawn from existing terrorist organizations who adhere to a strict version of Sunni Islam.
Other terror groups such as Al Qaeda, the Taliban have been known to be operating in Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. In addition, the Pakistani government is also facing an insurgency from indigenous ethnic Baloch.
Other Christian communities in Pakistan have also suffered from attacks by terrorist organizations.
In December, ISIS claimed an attack carried out by two suicide bombers in a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan. At least 10 people were killed and 56 were injured in the attack.
In 2016, suicide bombers belonging to a Taliban splinter group carried out an attack on a Christian neighborhood near Warsak Dam, near Peshawar. One bystander was killed and three members of Pakistan's security forces were injured in the incident.
That same year, at least 69 people were killed in Lahore following an Easter Sunday bombing targeting Christians at an amusement park, while 72 were killed after a bomb exploded at a hospital in Quetta.
