Palestinian gunmen attack UN school on sports day

GAZA, May 6 (Reuters) Unidentified gunmen hurled grenades at a UN-run school in the Gaza Strip today, apparently angry at the participation of boys and girls in a sports event, killing one person, residents said.

Six other people, including at least one pupil and a school principal, were wounded in the attack.

The dead man was identified by hospital officials as a bodyguard of a lawmaker from President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction who attended the mixed sports day event.

Local residents said the gunmen, whom they described as Muslim extremists, arrived at the school and warned through loudspeakers against letting boys and girls participate in the sports day.

The gunmen said the event ''taught children immoral values''.

They also attacked and destroyed a vehicle belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which runs the al-Amareya primary school in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

John Ging, head of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip, had attended the sports day event but UN officials said he had left before the attack.

REUTERS KK PM1747