Pakistani Christian school opens two years after terrorist attack

A Christian school in Murree, Pakistan, about 35 miles from Islamabad, which was shut down for two years after a terrorist attack, has reopened with a gold plaque in memory of the dead. Pakistan's Education Minister Zobaida Jalal, according to AP, joined family members of the dead, teachers, and students for the reopening.

The school was closed immediately after the August 5, 2002 attacks, where masked gunmen brandishing AK-47’s fired into the hallways, killing 6 Pakistani workers and injuring numerous others. The school apparently was a target because of its Christian affiliation, since they educated many children of Christian missionaries. Most of the students who studied there were Westerners and foreigners. Fortunately, no pupils were killed at the time, in part due to the sacrificial bravery of the Pakistani guardsmen.

Luke Cutherell, the chairman of the school's directors, said that “we, as an educational institution, will carry on, is an indication that we have not been overcome by evil.”

Much of the violence directed to Christians has seemed to have stemmed from the frustration many rebels have toward the U.S.

Subsequent investigation found, however, that the main targets were Westerners rather than the native Christian minority.