Six die as militants attack US-based aid agency

Oghi: The gunmen who attacked the office of a US-based, Christian aid agency in Pakistan yesterday singled out staff members before killing six of them, survivors said.

About 10 suspected Islamist militants stormed the office of the World Vision agency in Oghi village in Mansehra district, about 80 kilometres north of Islamabad, Wednesday morning.

A driver who was outside the building shouted a warning that people were trying to get in just before the masked gunmen stormed the office.

The end

Labourer Sayid Shehzed was upstairs in the office doing some work. One of the gunmen spotted him and told him to come down or he would be shot, Shehzed said.

"I thought for sure this was the end. I thought I wouldn't live," Shehzed told media at the scene of the attack.

The gunmen rounded everyone up and made them sit on the floor. They then demanded mobile telephones, identification and money, he said.

The gunmen, who were speaking Urdu, then told everyone to put their hands up, Shehzed said.

The driver who had earlier shouted the warning didn't put his hands up all the way so one of the gunmen shot him in the forehead, Shehzed said. They then killed another man sitting next to the driver as the others began to pray, he said.

Shehzed, who had identified himself as a labourer, was then separated from the group and put in a separate room.

"They kicked me in the stomach then brought the other labourers in. They then went back and started shooting everyone," he said.

All six dead were Pakistani staff at World Vision, the agency said. Police said two of the dead were women.