Pakistan grenade attack kills three nurses

THREE Pakistani nurses were killed yesterday when attackers hurled grenades at women leaving a church at a Christian hospital near Islamabad.

About 26 other Pakistanis, mostly nurses, were wounded in the second attack this week against Christian or Western interests in Pakistan.

One of the attackers was also killed in the assault in Taxila, 25 miles northwest of the capital, regional police commander Moravet Shah said.

About half the injured were in a serious condition, hospital staff said.

Police said they believed the attack was linked to an assault four days ago on a school for children of Christian missionaries 35 miles northeast of Islamabad in which six Pakistanis were killed.

"It is clear that terrorists are targeting the Christian community in Pakistan," said SK Tressler, the government minister in charge of minority affairs. "The entire Pakistani nation will have to fight terrorism."

The attack occurred as worshippers were leaving the church in the hospital grounds, said Dr Ernest Lall.

The service was attended mostly by women and children, and the women traditionally left the building first.

The three assailants, one of them waving a pistol, ran through the front gate of the hospital grounds, locked two guards in a booth, then rushed at the women with the grenades, police said.

The explosions shattered windows and tore two large holes in the pavement outside the church. Shoes belonging to some of the victims were scattered outside.

Hundreds of onlookers gathered in front of the hospital's locked gates, while inside, women wailed. Staff hugged each other or stood in shock.

"I was still inside the church when I heard explosions," said hospital employee Margif Tariq. "Window panes were falling on us, everyone was crying, everyone was in pain. When I came out, I saw dozens of women were lying on the pavement and most of them were bleeding."

Erik Masih, one of the security guards locked in the booth, said he tried to stop the men but "one of them pulled out a pistol and pushed me inside the room.

"I was inside the room for a few seconds when I heard the sound of explosions," he said. At that moment, the man who was guarding me ran outside towards the main gate."

The hospital, which is supported by the Presbyterian Church USA and the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan, was founded in 1922 and treats mostly poor Muslim patients. Following the attack, outpatient services were suspended for the day.

"We have been here since 1922, and someone throws a bomb," "I don't know why. It is somebody who must be against Christianity. We never thought we would be a target like that," Dr Lall said.

Mr Shah, the regional police commander, said he believed the attackers were linked to those who attacked the Murree Christian School on Monday because the attacker who died was wearing similar clothing.

One day after the Murree attack, three men believed to have carried out the raid blew themselves up with grenades after being stopped by police in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Before killing themselves, the three men in admitted attacking the school and warned that other groups like them "plan to carry out similar attacks on Americans and non-believers."