Five killed in attack on aid agency in Pakistan

Unidentified gunmen have attacked the office of a Western aid agency in Pakistan, killing up to five people, the police said.

The victims, including two women, were all Pakistanis, reports say.

The attack took place on the office of the World Vision in Mansehra district, 65 km (40 miles), north of Islamabad, the police said.

Islamic militants have attacked offices of foreign NGOs in the past in Pakistan, correspondents say.

Police official Sajid Khan told the AFP news agency that some armed people had "stormed" the building of the NGO.

"There was firing and also an explosion inside," he said.

The police said that the gunmen opened fire and exploded grenades once inside the building.

One unidentified aid worker said the gunmen had "engaged in battle with the police" inside the building.

Attacks on aid workers are not uncommon in Pakistan.

Last year three local female aid workers and their male driver were kidnapped and killed after they left Mansehra town to inspect a school for possible funding by the American development agency, USAID.

In February 2008, British aid agency Plan International suspended its operations in Pakistan after three of its workers were killed in an attack on its office in Mansehra.

Correspondents say Mansehra in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) had served as a base for militants operating in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Militant groups and religious parties in Pakistan have often accused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of spreading "vulgarity" in society.

This is because the NGOs mostly employ women workers and organise mixed social gatherings in line with their professed policy of gender equality, observers say.