Pakistan police, military on high alert after church attack

Barbara Green, right, and daughter Kristen Wormsley, left, in an undated photo, were members of the U.S. diplomatic community in Islamabad, Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's police force and military were on high alert Monday while a special committee investigated a grenade attack that killed five people, including two Americans, the day before at a church in Islamabad's diplomatic quarter.

Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, set up the committee, and security was stepped up at churches and diplomatic missions around the country. The two Americans, a mother and her daughter, were members of the U.S. Embassy community.

Protestant International Church, which is near the U.S. and Chinese embassies, was a favorite place of worship among diplomats.

In addition to the Americans, a Pakistani national and an Afghan died Sunday, Pakistan's health minister said. The fifth victim was not identified.

Wendy Chamberlin, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, identified the American dead as Barbara Green and her 17-year-old daughter, Kristen Wormsley. Green worked at the U.S. Embassy. Arrangements were being made to send their bodies back to the United States.

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In a brief phone call Monday with President Bush, Musharraf expressed his condolences and "his sympathy for the loss of lives and the wounded," a Bush administration official said.

During the call, which lasted about five to 10 minutes, the two leaders also discussed the war against terror, the official said. Pakistan has supported the United States in its battle against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the global fight against terrorism.

In a statement Sunday, Bush expressed outrage over the attacks, and Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States and Pakistan "are determined to see the guilty parties swiftly brought to justice."

White House officials blamed the attack on Islamic militants trying to drive a wedge between the United States and Musharraf. (Full story)

Christina Rocca, U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asia, arrived Monday in Islamabad to meet with Chamberlin and other embassy officials.

Rocca had been in New Delhi, India, for routine consultations with Indian officials but immediately set up the trip to Pakistan following the church attack, a State Department spokesman said.

Police said two men threw hand grenades into the church Sunday during services. More than 40 worshippers were wounded, including at least 10 Americans, police said.

The men threw at least six grenades, but only two exploded, they added.

Denis Sherbeek, who was hospitalized after being wounded in the attack, said it occurred after he finished leading the singing portion of the service.

Sherbeek said he was sitting with his wife, who was playing the piano, when he heard a "bang sound," possibly not an explosion but the sound of a door being thrown open at the back of the sanctuary.

"I didn't turn fast enough to see anybody," he said. "I saw the grenades landing three feet away on the floor."

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the motive is not known.

Musharraf ordered a manhunt for the attackers and called the attack an attempt to undermine his effort to crack down on militancy and terrorism.

Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-Har Quraishi and White House Correspondent Kelly Wallace contributed to this report.