Gunmen tie workers to chairs and shoot them

GUNMEN entered the offices of a Christian welfare organisation in Karachi yesterday, tied office workers to their chairs and shot each of them in the head at close range, killing at least seven.

The shooting was the latest in a string of violent attacks against Christians and Westerners, who have been increasingly targeted since Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to crack down on Islamic extremist groups and join the US war against the Taliban and al-Qaida in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The killings occurred at the third-floor offices of the Institute for Peace and Justice, or Idara-e-Amn-o-Insaf, a Pakistani Christian charity that does work in the city.