Militant arrested in hunt for church massacre gunmen

A member of a Pakistan militant Islamic group has been arrested in connection with the massacre of 16 people at a Protestant church service.

Shafiq ur-Rehman, a member of the extremist Sipah-e-Sahaba, is believed to have provided unspecified support to the six masked gunmen who massacred 15 worshippers and one Muslim police guard at St Dominic's Church in Behawalpur.

Police superintendent Shahid Nizam Durani said ur-Rehman was not believed to have been one of the gunmen.

However, he was believed to have sent faxes to news media claiming responsibility in the name of an unknown group, Lashkar-e-Umar.

Police said Rehman was a messenger and fax operator at a clinic in the Punjabi city where the attack occurred.

In several raids, the police have detained about 100 people for questioning, but they insist ur-Rehman was a leading suspect.