Pakistanis rally over execution killing

Relatives mourn the victims of the church raid

Story Tools

RESOURCES Interactive timeline: Pakistan militant attacks  AUDIO CNN's Ash-har Quraishi reports on the attack on a Christian center in Pakistan. PLAY AUDIO MORE STORIES • Pakistan strips Christian signs  • Aust. cancels Pakistan tour  • Raid suspects 'blow themselves up'  • Threats close U.S. Consulate

KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of Pakistanis have rallied to denounce Islamic militancy after an execution-style killing by armed men on a Christian charity group in Karachi.

Seven people were killed and two people were wounded, one critically, in Wednesday's raid where the killers tied up their victims and shot them at point blank range.

The assault, in the offices of the Organization for Peace and Justice -- known in Pakistan as Adara Aman-o-Insaf -- is the sixth this year targeting Westerners and Christians.

Investigators are questioning an office worker who was beaten up but not shot by the gunmen.

The gunmen escaped and are being hunted.

Outraged by the attack, hundreds of Pakistanis marched in the southern port city of Karachi later Wednesday and demanded better protection from the government.

Wednesday's attack came a day after police began stripping signs identifying churches in private homes and placing sandbags outside Christian sites after finding evidence that militants were planning to blow up at least two other churches in Karachi.

They found maps of two churches and a Christian school, along with weapons and explosives, when they arrested two suspected Islamic militants in Karachi.

Since President Pervez Musharraf began supporting the U.S. anti-terror campaign last year, and reigning in some of the country's Muslim extremists, violent raids on Christian sites have killed 30 people and wounded about 100.

While Islamabad says these attacks have prompted them to beef up security, some Christians say authorities in the predominately Muslim country want to diminish the visibility of non-Muslims.

There has been no visible attempt to remove crosses or disguise larger Christian buildings.

Christians make up a small minority in Pakistan, where about 97 percent of the population is Muslim.

-- CNN Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi contributed to this story

Iran poll to go to run-off • U.N.: Truck bomb killed Hariri • EU 'crisis' after summit failure • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues

CNN/Money: Security alert issued for 40 million credit cards • Bin Laden deputy sends message • U.S. House votes to keep U.N. dues • Iran poll to go to run-off