Gunmen storm Christian school in Pakistan, kill six

MURREE, Pakistan -- Masked gunmen firing Kalashnikov rifles burst through the front gates of a Christian school Monday, killing six people and wounding three in the latest attack against Western interests since Pakistan joined the war against terrorism.

None of the 150 students, including 30 Americans, or the mostly British staff were hurt in the attack against the Murree Christian School in the town about 35 miles northeast of Islamabad.

All the dead were Pakistanis, including two security guards, a receptionist, a cook, a carpenter and a bystander, police said. A Filipino woman whose children attend the school was shot in the hand. The hospital said two other people were wounded but gave no details.

"Their goal was to hit foreigners," police district commander Moravet Shah said of the attackers, who escaped. "What we know is that they were terrorists. Whether they were religious terrorists, we have to determine."

It was the sixth attack against Westerners or Western interests in Pakistan this year, most of which have been blamed on Islamic militant groups. Since October, two churches have been attacked, leaving 20 dead, including two Americans.

"There certainly seems to be an indication that there is a certain element in our society who feel aggrieved by the foreigners generally," Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani said on Pakistan television.

Opened fire at guards

In Monday's attack, up to four clean-shaven men believed to be in their mid-20s approached a guard post at the entrance to the school, police and school officials said.

The men pulled weapons out of duffel bags and opened fire, killing a security guard and a nearby Pakistani man.

The gunmen then stormed through the gates, shooting and killing a second guard and a school receptionist and blasting the windows of a dormitory. Another security guard returned fire, forcing the attackers to race across the school grounds, hop over a back fence and disappear into the woods.

On their way out, the gunmen shot dead the cook and the carpenter.

"We heard the shots so we all hid under tables and in cupboards and things until we got the all-clear," said an Englishman who would not give his name. "All of the parents then came and got their kids."

Shah said police believe at least one suspect was injured because a trail of blood was found near the fence. Investigators recovered three duffel bags and spent Kalashnikov cartridges.

Police found a note at the scene expressing "resentment against world powers," Shah said. He refused to elaborate.

Russell Morton, the school's Australian director, said the attack wasn't by anyone with Pakistan's interests at heart. "Anybody who thinks this kind of attack helps Pakistan is a complete fool,"he said.

The U.S. State Department condemned the attack and extended its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims, spokesman Philip T. Reeker said. Pakistani Information Minister Nisar Memon branded the attack as terrorism and said, "Pakistan is firmly resolved to fight terrorism."

Morton said the school had received no threats and had never been attacked since it was founded in 1956 to train children of Christian missionaries working in South Asia.

The student body represents about 20 nationalities and includes not only children of Christian missionaries but also foreign diplomats, Morton said.