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'Trained terrorists' behind Pakistan church slayings
BAHAWALPUR, Pakistan (CNN) -- Condemning Sunday's massacre of 16 Christian worshippers, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf blamed "trained terrorists" for the slaying and vowed justice would be served. At least five others were critically injured in the attack when a group of bearded men on motorcycles opened fire on a morning church service in Bahawalpur in eastern Pakistan, officials said. A police officer was among those killed. "The method used and the inhumane tactics employed clearly indicate involvement of trained terrorists of organizations bent upon creating discord and disharmony in Pakistan, where Christians and Muslims have always lived in peace with mutual respect for each other," Musharraf said. "I shall not comment any further on the identity of the terrorists until the investigation is concluded … I would however like to assure everyone that we should track down the culprits and bring them to justice." It is unclear whether the attack was related to anti-U.S. and anti-government sentiment over the airstrikes on Afghanistan and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. However, intelligence officials told the Associated Press that members of a banned Islamic group were under suspicion. Carnage
The church massacre was the worst ever attack on Pakistan's Christian minority. The Reverend Jim Nuttle, a Catholic priest at the church where the shooting happened, said about 50 people were in the church when the attack began at the end of the first service at 0900 local time. The men rode up on motorcycles and shot a police officer who was a church security guard, Nuttle said. The men then stormed the church and began "shooting indiscriminately with automatic weapons," he said. "They were in the church for a full five minutes," Nuttle said. "They left as quickly as they came; they left a great deal of carnage in the church -- people dead, dying," The priest for the Church of Pakistan, which was holding services at the time of the incident, was not in the church when the shooting began. Officials say an investigation is already underway and Musharraf has sent two federal ministers to Bahawalpur -- about 230 miles (370 kilometers) southwest of Lahore -- to express condolences to the families. Militias seize airfieldIt was a day of violence in Pakistan on Sunday. In Quetta, close to the Afghan border, a bomb ripped through a passenger bus, killing at least three and wounding more than 20. Anti-U.S. protests have been a common feature in Pakistan since U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan began, particularly in Quetta and Peshawar. Several Islamic groups, some with pro-Taliban allegiances, have called on Musharraf to withdraw his support and cooperation with the United States. In another development CNN has learned that armed militias who have blocked a key northwest Pakistan highway for four days have taken over an airstrip and all the gas stations in the town of Chilas, near the northeast border with Afghanistan. Armed guards of two fundamentalist Muslim parties blocked the Karakoram Highway, Pakistan's main link with China and part of the ancient Silk Road. The militias are part of a larger group that has been making its way toward Afghanistan to join the Taliban. |
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