Gunmen attack Western aid agency in Pakistan; 5 dead

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants attacked the office of a U.S.-based Christian aid agency in Pakistan on Wednesday with a bomb and gunfire on Wednesday, killing 5 people, police said.

U.S. ally Pakistan is battling al Qaeda-linked militants who have launched a string of attacks over the past few years, including some on foreign targets.

Gunmen burst into the office of the World Vision agency in Mansehra district, 65 km (40 miles) north of Islamabad, at about 9 a.m. (0400 GMT), police said.

"They entered the building, set off a bomb and then opened fire," senior police officer Sajid Khan told Reuters by telephone from Mansehra.

Khan said five people had been killed but he did not know their nationalities or if they were agency workers.

A World Vision official said at least five Pakistani agency workers had been killed.

Mansehra town has been a hub for relief efforts following an earthquake that killed 73,000 people in October 2005.

The area has been generally peaceful although there have been occasional incidents of violence.

The town is located east of the Swat region, where the army launched an offensive a year ago to clear Pakistani Taliban.

The offensive raised fears that the militants might be pushed into Mansehra.

Police exchanged fire with the attackers, following the attack on Wednesday, and were hunting for them.

"They have fled to nearby forest. Our teams have cordoned off the area and launched a search," he said, adding two women were among the dead.

The United Nations and aid agencies have occasionally been forced to limit their operations and the movement of foreign staff because of security worries but many relief groups are still operating in Pakistan.

In 2008, gunmen attacked an office of the Plan International aid agency in Mansehra town, killing four Pakistani staff.

Khan was critical of World Vision's security.

"They did not have proper security arrangements. They have just one guard who didn't have a weapon," Khan said.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky