Four nurses were killed after suspected pro-Islamic terrorists attacked a Christian hospital in Taxila on Friday.

Three unidentified assailants hurled grenades at the staff as they came out of the hospital chapel after attending their daily morning service.

According to eye-witnesses, up to 70 others were injured in the attack on the hospital site, 12 miles west of Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

Most of the casualties were Pakistanis and two of the wounded were in a serious condition on Friday.
One of the attackers was killed on the spot, reportedly shot dead by his accomplices after he was wrestled to the ground by hospital staff.
The attack has caused waves of anxiety among the Christian and Buddhist minorities in the area and is the second assault on the Christian community in less than a week.

On August 5, three suspected Islamic militants stormed Murree Christian School, about 40 miles east of Taxila.

The gunmen reportedly opened fire indiscriminately as they swept across the playground, before making their escape over the fence at the rear.

Miraculously, no students were injured and one group of children in the playground at the time managed to take shelter under some bushes.

Two Christian and four Muslim staff were however killed as they attempted to stop the assailants. A Pakistani cleaner, a neighbour and a parent also sustained gunshot wounds.

The school has cancelled all classes and has set up three counselling teams for the traumatised students and staff.

One student said: We have witnessed a miracle and are now stronger in our Christian faith. In spite of attacks of evil, Almighty Jesus saved us; but we are in grief that we lost six innocent people in this terrorist attack. In spite of the threats and the hostile situation, we will continue our study in Murree Christian School.

Mr Russell, the Australian headmaster of the school, said: We ask for earnest and sustained prayer at this time from Christians everywhere, and are grateful for the support we have received from our Muslim neighbours and from the authorities.

An Islamic militant group named Al-Intiqami Al-Pakistani (Revenge of Jehadi) has accepted the responsibility for the terrorist attack on the school.

In a letter sent to Murree Christian School shortly after the attack, Al-Intiqami Al-Pakistani stated that: This is just a beginning of a revenge for the atrocities committed by the US in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir and Palestine and we will continue attacking.

Murree Christian School is a boarding school for the children of foreign missionaries and expatriates. Its 150 students come from over 20 countries.

The US war on terrorism has driven many radical Muslims from Afghanistan into Pakistan and a notable increase in attacks on Christian institutions has since occurred.

In March, five grenades were thrown into an international church in Islamabad, killing five and injuring 40. In January, a bomb went off inside a church in G/8 Christian Colony in Islamabad. Last October, 15 Christians and a Muslim were killed in the bombing of the church in Bahawalpur.

Shahbaz Bhatti, Chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) and President of Christian Liberation Front Pakistan, said: If our government will not ban or crush these Islamic militants' organizations, these attacks and killings will continue. We are mindful that in the campaign against terrorism, religious minorities of Pakistan will remain targets of these militants.

The APMA is a coalition of leaders and representatives of religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Ahmadis and Zoroastrians. Their aim is to foster unity and harmony among all the religious minorities in the country.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide continues to call on the Government of Pakistan to take effective action against Islamic militant groups.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: We strongly condemn these brutal and barbaric acts of terrorism against the vulnerable and the innocent.

Christians in Pakistan are being singled out by radical Islamic militant groups for acts of appalling violence and we call on President Musharraf to provide adequate protection for them and for other vulnerable minorities.