Two blasts have killed at least 14 people near two churches in a Christian neighbourhood of Lahore.

At least 70 people were reportedly hurt in the explosions at the Catholic church and Christ Church in the city’s Youhanabad area.

A senior police official in Lahore, Haider Ashraf, says the explosions occurred in quick succession in the Christian neighborhood of Youhana Abad while services were being held inside the church.

Suicide Attack

Ashraf says police are investigating whether the blasts came from a planted bomb or a suicide attack.

But a spokesman for a faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence and said it was the work of suicide bombers.

One unidentified witness told Pakistan’s Geo television that the main gate to the church was closed so people were using a smaller gate.

“One bomber exploded himself near that gate, that created chaos and during the course there was another blast,” he said.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the blasts the mood quickly turned violent.

Local television footage showed an angry crowd beating a person they thought was connected to the attack.

Militants appear to be targeting minorities more intensively recently, including a string of mosques belonging to members of the Shiite Muslim minority sect. In 2013, twin blasts at a church in Peshawar killed 85 people.

“There will be more of such attacks,” warned Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Taliban faction, in a statement emailed to reporters.

(With AP inputs)