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CNN Live At Daybreak
Another Deadly Militant Attack in Pakistan
Aired August 09, 2002 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There's been another deadly militant attack in Pakistan. Three Pakistani nurses and one attacker at a Christian missionary hospital were killed in today's grenade attack. At least 20 people were hurt. It happened just outside of Islamabad.
The victims had just left chapel after morning service when three men began throwing grenades. This comes just days after a deadly assault on a Christian missionary school.
Our Ash-Har Quraishi reports the attacks against Western targets in the region is raising concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a typical morning in the Shalm household. Lynden Shalm and his family moved to Pakistan 14 years ago to carry on missionary work. The Shalms, originally from Canada, have seen a lot of changes in the country over the years. But a recent attack on a Christian school in Pakistan, the sixth such attack on a Western target since October, hits a little too close to home.
LYNDEN SHALM, MISSIONARY: To attack a school like that, being a foreign school, we are much more concerned about that. That really, more than anything, indicates to us there is a serious problem in the country that needs addressing somehow.
QURAISHI: Their main concern is the safety of their 17-year-old daughter Lindsey, who starts her senior year in less than a week at an international school here in Lahore.
LYNDEN SHALM: Our meetings yesterday for security.
LINDSEY SHALM, MISSIONARY'S DAUGHTER: Well, sometimes when something like this happens they won't let me go out for a few days. But pretty much they know that I won't go in certain areas or like they know where I am and they can call me on my cell phone if anything happens.
QURAISHI: Lindsey says she finds herself reading the newspaper more often these days, trying to make sense of the attack this week on a school just like hers. Like many other expatriates who have remained in Pakistan, the Shalms are more careful now than ever before. KATHY SHALM, MISSIONARY: Before I used to go for walks and I'd walk around the neighborhood, whereas now I don't. You just have to take extra precaution.
QURAISHI: Lynden, an avid cyclist, has had to cut back on his favorite pastimes.
LYNDEN SHALM: It actually helps us to get acquainted with the people.
QURAISHI: He has biked over 20,000 kilometers all over the country and says he is willing to give it up for the time being. But the family agrees having to leave Pakistan for good would be very difficult.
KATHY SHALM: This feels like home and when we left Canada to come back, people were saying why? And I said my home is there. We've made this our home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And we want to get more now on today's grenade attack on that Christian hospital in Pakistan.
Our Islamabad bureau chief Ash-Har Quraishi joins us now live by phone from Lahore -- good morning, Ash-Har.
QURAISHI: Good morning, Carol.
Now, this latest attack occurred just outside the capital of Islamabad. What we understand from a hospital official is that two or three men actually approached this compound at the missionary hospital there, had a scuffle with the guard and then entered the compound as staff members were exiting the chapel services early in the morning. They lobbed two grenades at this crowd, in which three people were killed, three nurses were killed and at least 20 other staff members were injured.
Now, we also understand from reports that a fourth person was killed, a suspected attacker. It's not clear as to how he was killed, but it is at this time there being reported as a suicide bombing.
Now, as we mentioned, this is the fourth attack against a Christian institution in Pakistan since last October. And right now they're not characterizing it as an attack against Westerners. There was one staff member who could be characterized as a Westerner, but mostly, predominantly Pakistanis. In this case still they're not sure as to who may be behind this. Authorities say they have no suspects and at this point nobody has claimed responsibility for this latest attack -- Carol.
COSTELLO: But Ash-Har, these attacks definitely are targeting Christians.
QURAISHI: In this case that's one thing that they're operating on right now. They believe that this attack was against Christians because there was the absence of the presence of foreign nationals in this case. Now, the attack earlier this week predominantly foreign nationals and the children of missionaries and diplomats also at that school. That was considered something that may have been attacked because of the nature of its makeup.
But this, it's still unclear. This is only the fourth attack against Christians in Pakistan in that much time. There have been six attacks against Western targets since October.
COSTELLO: The man you featured in your story, Mr. Shalm, says this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Is it being addressed?
QURAISHI: Well, that's something that some people are debating right now. Now, the government has a tendency to crack down on suspected militants or the usual suspects, as they call them, after incidents like these. Now, we understand that there have been raids in various cities over the last few days here in Pakistan, looking for people who may have been involved in these latest attacks.
But the government does things the way they do things. They continue these raids and they hope they may pick up something in the net of these large mass scale raids. So whether or not they're going to go and do some more of these raids is something we're going to have to wait and see.
COSTELLO: All right, Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us by phone from Lahore, Pakistan this morning.
Thank you.
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