Suspected Islamist militants stormed an office of a US-based Christian aid agency in Pakistan today, killing six members of staff in a hail of bullets and a bomb.
Nuclear-armed US 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 World Vision office in Oghi village in Mansehra district, about 80km north of Islamabad, at about 9am, police and a witness said.
The office was largely destroyed by the blast, which left a crater by the main door. Bits of broken concrete and glass littered the floor, which was also strewn with wrecked office furniture and equipment.
A door plastered with decorations for a birthday was blown off its hinges. Nearby, a calendar on a glass-strewn desk showed a workshop had been scheduled for today.
Pools of blood lay under an upturned chair and under a nearby desk. A trail of blood stained a concrete sidewalk at the back of the building.
World Vision said the six dead were Pakistani members of staff and it was suspending all operations in the country.
Seven members of staff were wounded and one was missing, the aid agency said in a statement, adding that its relief and development work in Pakistan was conducted by Pakistanis.
Mansehra town, in North West Frontier Province, 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.
In 2008, gunmen attacked an office of the Plan International aid agency in Mansehra town, killing four Pakistani staff.
Reuters