Gunmen attack Pakistani school

Paramilitary forces search a vehicle in Karachi as Pakistan cracks down on terrorists

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Six people are dead and at least three wounded after several gunmen attacked a Christian school in a popular mountain resort in Pakistan.

In the third fatal attack against Christian institutions in Pakistan since October, gunmen attacked the school near the town of Murree, about 30 kilometers northeast of Islamabad, officials said on Monday.

The attack at the Murree Christian School in the Himalayan foothills comes on the same day as the U.S. consulate in Karachi was closed due to a security alert.(Full story)

Attacks on Western targets have risen since President Pervez Musharraf joined the U.S.-led war against terrorism last year, riling Muslims in this South Asian nation.

As many as five attackers were reportedly seen in Monday's attack, but there were conflicting reports about whether they were on motorcycles or on foot.

One schoolteacher told CNN there might have been as many as four gunmen on foot.

An administrator at the school told Reuters news agency that witnesses saw two men, carrying automatic rifles and their faces covered in black scarves, walk into the compound of the school and open fire indiscriminately.

At least one attacker was seen fleeing on a motorcycle after the shots were fired, according to one eyewitness.

Children safe

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The school, which was founded in 1956 to train children of missionaries in Pakistan and in neighboring countries, was in session at the time of the attack, with about 150 children in classes.

None of the children were killed, according to police, with the school's website saying that all students and expatriate staff were safe and being cared for.

The dead men were all Pakistanis and believed to be security guards and staff.

Authorities have no leads on who was behind the attack.

In October 16 people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a Protestant congregation in the city of Behawalpur in the populous Punjab province.

In March a grenade attack into a Protestant congregation in Islamabad's diplomatic enclave, killed five people, including the wife and daughter of an American diplomat.

Christians, Hindus and other religions make up about three percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan's 140 million people.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.