Six nuns and three priests from Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity were attacked by a group of people carrying iron rods on Sunday while the missionaries were delivering food. Police have arrested 15 people in connection with the attacks in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

In a slum outside the city of Kozhikode, two nuns were pulled from their jeep as they delivered food to Dalits, members of the group formerly known as untouchables. Locals helped them escape to a police station where they called their mission, according to UPI. An hour later, others from the mission arrived on the scene, and they were also attacked. All nine injured were sent to the hospital with head injuries.

According to the BBC, "The national convenor of the Bangalore-based Global Council for Indian Christians, Sajan K. George, said members of the right-wing Hindu parties Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were behind the attack." According to the Pakistan Times the attackers shouted "Long Live the BJP" and "Long live the RSS." The BJP and its parent organization, the RSS, are Hindu nationalist groups, often opposed to foreign and non-Hindu influence in the country.

More on Indian attacks:

• Hindu hardliners attack Christian missionaries in India | Suspected Hindu hardliners used iron rods to attack a group of Christian missionaries distributing food to poor lower-caste villagers in southern India, injuring all seven and their two drivers, police said Sunday. (Pakistan Times)
• Attack on nuns: police search on | The police have stepped up the investigation into the attack on nuns and brothers attached to the Missionaries of Charity by a gang of miscreants at a Dalit colony in Pantherankkavu, near here, on Saturday. (Sun Network, India)