attack rocked their Presbyterian church in the town of Daska, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of the capital Islamabad, police officials said.
"Most of those killed or injured were worshipping inside when attacked," said Brig. Javed Cheema, who heads the newly created anti-terrorism cell in the Capital, Islamabad.
The Cable News Network (CNN) said the killed girls were 6, 11 and 15 years old. Investigators in Punjab province said they died when two masked men threw a hand grenade into the Presbyterian church during an evening service.
No group claimed responsibility for the violence in Daska, home to thousands of Pakistani Christians, which came as police units narrowly avoided another attack in Islamabad.
GRENADES AND BULLETS
Police said two grenades and about 20 bullets were discovered hidden in a shopping bag near Islamabad’s St. Thomas Protestant Church where about one 1,000 worshippers, including foreigners, attended the Christmas Day service.
In the days leading up to Christmas, Islamabad’s St. Thomas’s Protestant Church has been heavily guarded, with more than half-dozen policemen cradling rifles posted around it, the Associated Press (AP) said.
Church officials reportedly said they feared an attack on them had been planned but went ahead with Christmas services as scheduled.
TERRORISM WAR
News about the latest tensions came amid reports of growing anti-Christian sentiments in Pakistan, which has been linked to the Government’s support of the United States war on terrorism.
Analysts say attacks on Christians, seen by extremists as resembling America’s policies, have increased since September last year when Pakistan dumped its Taliban allies to join the U.S.-led war against terror.
There are also reports about al attempts on President Pervez Musharraf, who militants hold responsible for joining the American camp.
CHRISTIANS MINORITY
Christians, Hindus and other religions make up about three percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan’s nearly 140 million people. Security has been increased in churches around this mostly Islamic nation ahead of Christmas celebrations, AP reported.
Across the border in India, Christians have also suffered this Christmas with reports of violence in especially eastern India.
A priest was injured and scores of others wounded when robbers threw bombs at a midnight Christmas service Wednesday 25, in the catholic church of the town of Malipota near the India-Bangladesh border.
Like in Pakistan, anti-Christian sentiment has also increased in India in recent months, BosNewsLife learned.
