TAXILA, Pakistan — An envelope arrived at the Christian Hospital here this week, addressed to Bushra Hadayat. Inside were the results of final exams she had taken for a correspondence course from Allama Iqbal Open University. The news was good. Hadayat, 22, a Pakistani Christian who worked as a paramedic at the hospital to support her parents and younger siblings, had earned a bachelor's degree in journalism.
But Hadayat will never collect her diploma. She was one of four women killed Aug. 9 when Islamic militants burst into the hospital compound. The attackers threw grenades at nurses, paramedics and clerical workers who were leaving church services.
"We never thought they'd do this to a hospital," says Rehan Rafique, 31, a computer technician at the Presbyterian-run hospital in this ancient city 15 miles northwest of Islamabad.
The unthinkable is occurring with alarming regularity to...