Karachi , Pakistan ( CNN ) Suicide bombers attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan on Sunday , setting off two blasts that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more , officials said . The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly attack and warned of more to come . The explosions , which struck the Nishtar Colony area in the city of Lahore , wounded at least 78 people , said Dr. Muhammed Saeed Sohbin , medical superintendent at Lahore General Hospital . Video from the scene aired by CNN affiliate GEO News showed twisted metal , shattered glass and panicked residents outside a church compound . Ambulance and security personnel were seen moving in . Later footage showed water cannons arriving to disperse the crowd . Ehsanullah Ehsan , a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban , said by telephone that his group was responsible for the suicide bombings , declaring that such attacks would continue until Sharia law is implemented in Pakistan . After a period of disunity , the terrorist group 's three major splinter groups announced last week that they were joining forces again under the name Tehrik-i-Taliban , or TTP . The Pakistani military has been waging a campaign against the militant group in North Waziristan , one of the loosely governed tribal areas bordering Afghanistan . Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif , whose government held unsuccessful peace talks with the TTP last year , strongly condemned Sunday 's attack , according to a statement from his office . Sharif asked provincial governments to tighten security and `` take all possible measures '' to protect people and property , the statement said . The last major attack on Pakistan 's Christian community took place in 2013 , when suicide bombers struck a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar , killing more than 80 people . More recently , a Christian couple were burned to death in November by mob that accused them of blasphemy . `` The Christian community is a soft target for militant outfits in Pakistan , '' said Rabia Mehmood , a researcher at the Jinnah Institute , a Pakistani think tank . `` But generally Christians and other religious minorities are under a constant threat by the extremist elements in the society and rampant religious intolerance . '' On Sunday , Pope Francis said he learned of the attacks `` with pain , with much pain . '' He called for peace in Pakistan and said that persecution of Christians does n't get the attention it deserves . The Pope prayed that `` this persecution against Christians , which the world tries to hide , might end , and that there be peace . '' Other minorities in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation have also been targeted this year . Last month , an attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar killed at least 19 worshipers and injured dozens of others . The Pakistani Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for that attack , too . CNN 's Sophia Saifi reported from Karachi , Pakistan , and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong . CNN 's Brian Walker and journalists Saleem Mehsud and Adeel Raja contributed to this report .
The Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for the suicide bombings . Pakistan has been fighting a war against militants in its northwest region since 2008 and is now trying to contain an insurgency that threatens to destabilize neighboring Afghanistan.