Gunmen kill five at prayer meeting

Gunmen have opened fire at a prayer meeting of the minority Ahmediya sect in the Pakistani province of Punjab, killing at least five worshippers and wounding another seven.

Police said the attack occured in a village near the town of Sialkot, when four unidentified men started shooting Ahmedis who were leaving their mosque after early morning prayers.

The motive for the attack is not yet known but human rights groups have constantly highlighted the persecution suffered by the Ahmedis in Pakistan, where in 1974 a constitutional amendment declared the sect to be heretical, even though the Ahmedis regard themselves as part of the Islamic faith.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service