4 killed in attack on a Church in Taxila
09-08-2004
RAWALPINDI: Four persons, three women and an
attacker, were killed and 24 injured as terrorists attacked a chapel
in Mission Hospital Taxila at 7:48 am on Friday.
The dead are: Staff Nurse Alishba Youial, 27,
Mid-wife Naziran Ghulam, 23, and Assistant Bushra Perveen, 20. It was
unclear whether the attacker was shot by his accomplices or died from
a shrapnel wound.
According to one account, the terrorist slipped due
to rain and some of the people standing near the gate tried to nab
him. The terrorist swallowed something and died on the spot. The
police recovered a hand grenade from his body.
The injured were rushed to the Mission Hospital,
where three staff women workers were stated to be in a critical
condition. Sanam, 20, daughter of Bashir Masih, was shifted to
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in a critical condition.
John. C. Heinrich Memorial Chapel is located in the
premises of the Mission Hospital. Akram Masih, a security guard of the
hospital, told The News that it had been raining at the time of the
terrorist attack. He was standing beside the main gate of the hospital
while two security personnel were deputed at the entrance of the
chapel.
He said two mysterious persons entered the main
gate of the hospital and passed through the side entrance of the
chapel. Both returned from the hospital side and went towards the
entrance gate of the chapel, he said.
When a security guard asked them why they were
going to the chapel, the third terrorist standing outside the main
gate rushed towards him and ordered at gunpoint, to keep silent. In
the meantime, women worshippers started coming out of the chapel, he
said. Two terrorists hurled grenades at them and ran out of the
hospital, he said.
Michael John, male staff nurse, told The News,
"The service starts at 7:15 every morning and continues for about
15 minutes, but on Friday it continued for 30 minutes. Almost 200
hospital staff were participating in the service when the terrorists
attacked the chapel," he said.
AP adds: The attack is the latest in a spate of
terrorist incidents since President Pervez Musharraf sided with the
United States against the Afghan Taliban, outraging extremists. Police
said they believed the attack in Taxila was linked to an assault four
days ago against a school for children of Christian missionaries in
which six Pakistanis were killed.
Chief investigator Raja Mumtaz Ahmad told The
Associated Press that the attackers wanted to kill Christians or
Westerners to express anger over Pakistan's support for the US-led war
against terrorism.
The attack occurred as worshippers were leaving a
church on the hospital grounds, according to Dr. Ernest Lall, a former
hospital director who was in the church. The service was attended
mostly by women and children, and women traditionally exit first. The
three assailants, one of them brandishing a pistol, ran through the
front gate of the hospital grounds, locked two watchmen in a guard
booth, then rushed at the women with the grenades, police said.
The explosions shattered windows and gouged two
large holes in the pavement outside the church. Shoes belonging to
some of the victims were seen scattered outside. Hundreds of onlookers
gathered in front of the hospital's locked gates, while inside the
hospital, women wailed and pounded their chests. Staff members hugged
each other or stood in shock.
"I was still inside the church when I heard
explosions,'' said staff member Margif Tariq. "Windowpanes were
falling on us, everyone was crying, everyone was in pain. ... When I
came out, I saw dozens of women were lying on the pavement and most of
them were bleeding.''
Erik Masih, one of the security guards locked in
the booth, said he tried to stop the men but "one of them pulled
out a pistol and pushed me inside the room.'' "I was inside the
room for a few seconds when I heard the sound of explosions,'' he
said. "At that moment, the man who was guarding me outside ran
away toward the main gate.''
The hospital, which is supported by the
Presbyterian Church USA and the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan, was
founded in 1922 and treats mostly poor Muslim patients. Following the
attack, outpatient services were suspended for the day. "We have
been here since 1922, and someone throws a bomb,'' Lall said.
"I don't know why. It is somebody who must be
against Christianity. We never thought we would be a target like
that.'' Shah, the regional police commander, said he believed the
assailants were linked to the Murree shootings on Monday because the
attacker who died was wearing clothing similar to that of the school
attackers.
One day after the Murree attack, three men believed
to have carried out the school raid blew themselves up with grenades
after being stopped by police in Azad Kashmir. Before killing
themselves, the three men admitted to attacking the school and warned
that other groups like them "plan to carry out similar attacks on
Americans and nonbelievers, and you will soon hear about it,'' Shah
said.
3 get death penalty for church attack
22-01-2004
RAWALPINDI, Jan 22: A special Anti-Terrorism Court here on Thursday handed down death sentence to three men, on four counts, convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack on the Taxila Church on Aug 9, 2002
, killing four nurses and injuring 20 other people.
ATC No.1 Judge Manzoor Ahmad Mirza awarded the capital punishment to Saifur Rehman, Abu Bakar and Ayaz for attacking the church with grenades. The court also imposed a Rs100,000 fine on each of the convicts.
The court also awarded life sentence to three convicts, on eight counts each, for injuring the 20 people and fined them Rs50,000 each. During their raids, police had recovered some illicit weapons from Ayaz, Sabir Hussain and Taufeeq. On this count, the court awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment to Ayaz and fined him Rs5000. For the same crime, the court awarded seven years' RI to Sabir Hussain and fined him Rs100,000; six months' jail in case of of failure to pay the fine.
The court awarded 10 years' RI to Taufeeq, another convict, and ordered confiscation of his property. It acquitted Taufeeq, Sabir and Asif of physically participating in the attack.
Refering Site
investigating officer SHO, guard killed in 'terrorist' attack
10-7-2004
RAWALPINDI, July 10: A police inspector and his guard were shot dead in, what appeared to be, a terrorist attack by two unidentified persons riding a motorbike in Afshan Colony here on Saturday.
Inspector Raja Saqlain, the station house officer of Westridge police station, left his Afshan Colony residence along with his guard-cum driver Altaf Hussain in his car (IDG-5509) for police station at around 9.15 am. Altaf Hussain, head-constable, was Mr Saqlain's nephew.
The police inspector had to appear before the anti-terrorist court for cross-examination in Shah Najaf case.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Cantonment Circle, Khurram Sultan said two unidentified persons riding a motorcycle, one of them bearded and tall wearing Shalwar Kameez, came in front of the car and started firing with AK-47 assault rifle. As the driver lost control of the car due to intense firing, it veered off the road.
The attackers then moved towards the back side of the car and continued firing till both the police officials died. The ASP said that a vendor, who had been near the place of occurrence, was missing. "Probably, the vendor was their accomplice and he had been watching Saqlain's movement and finally they targeted him," he said.
Quoting some eye-witnesses, the ASP said that the attackers escaped on a motorbike whose registration plate was unreadable.
The area markets were closed soon after the terrorist attack, while police sealed off the city to hunt down the criminals.
A source said when Raja Saqlain's car reached near the vendor, a man, who had been described as tall and slim, appeared on scene and pushed the cart towards the car causing it to stop. In the meantime, two other persons carrying assault rifles started firing on the car from the back killing both the police officials on the spot.
Raja Saqlain had been on the terrorists hit-list since he started investigating high-profile terrorist cases. He had been very close to concluding the investigation into the December 25 terrorist attack on the presidential convoy.
Talking to reporters after saying the funeral prayers of the police officials, Punjab Law minister Basharat Raja said it was an act of terrorism. However, no group has claimed the attack so far. He said it would be premature to link attack on policemen with terrorist attacks on President Musharraf.
Referring Site