Two suicide bombers stormed a Christian church in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least five people and wounding up to 18 before being stopped by police guards.
The gunmen, who were wearing vests filled with explosives, attacked the church in Quetta city when Sunday services had just opened.
Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister for Baluchistan province, said hundreds of worshippers were attending the church ahead of Christmas.
He said one attacker was killed at the entrance to the church, while the other set off his payload inside.
Police guards at the church exchanged fire with the attackers before they could enter the main sanctuary, said provincial police chief Moazzam Jah.
"There were nearly 400 people inside the church, but the attackers couldn't get inside the services," Mr Jah said.
"We killed one of them, and the other one exploded himself after police wounded him."
Baluchistan police chief Moazzam Ansari confirmed the death toll.
Mr Ansari praised the response of security forces guarding the church, saying the attacker who made it inside was wounded and unable to reach the main building.
"Otherwise the loss of lives could have been much higher," he told reporters.
Quetta police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said a search is underway for two suspected accomplices who escaped.
Mr Jah said the church had guards because Christian places of worship are often targeted by Islamist extremist groups
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Muslim extremists have targeted Pakistan's Christian minority in the past.
Local television showed ambulances and security patrols racing to the scene, while women and children were being led out of the church's main gate.
Hospitals officials said two women were among the dead while another five women and two children were among the wounded.
A young girl in a white dress sobbed as she recounted the attack to Geo television, saying many people around her were wounded.
Aqil Anjum, who was shot in his right arm, told the Associated Press he heard a blast in the middle of the service, followed by heavy gunfire.
"It was chaos. Bullets were hitting people inside the closed hall."
Dozens of Christians gathered outside a nearby hospital to protest the lack of security.
Pakistan's president and other senior officials condemned the attack.
"Attack of terrorists on Zarghoon road church in Quetta is condemned. Pakistan’s resolve against terrorism cannot be deterred by these cowardly acts," Mohammad Faisal, a spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on Twitter.
Additional reporting by agencies
