GAZA CITY, Jan 14: Palestinian leader-elect Mahmoud Abbas came under Israeli and US pressure on Friday to carry out a campaign pledge to end armed violence after six Israelis were killed in an overnight Gaza Strip bomb attack coordinated by three Palestinian militant groups.

The attack was led by three gunmen who moved into the Israeli side of the Karni border crossing, at the entrance to north-eastern Gaza Strip, through a hole in a concrete wall punctured by some 100 kilos of explosives.

The army said all six Israeli dead were civilians working at the terminal. Five of their colleagues were also wounded, two of them seriously. Their assailants died in a gun battle with security guards.

Israeli Transport Minister Meir Sheetrit said Abbas, who has repeatedly called for an end to the armed struggle against Israel's occupation, should take actions to halt militant attacks.

He said the moderate leader "cannot limit himself to condemning terrorism and must take decisive steps." Army Colonel Yoav Mordechai, who is responsible for border crossing points between Israel and the territories, charged that he did not "see any intentions on the part of Palestinians to take measures" to combat militant attacks.

He said Abbas, who went on to head a transition leadership as soon as Yasser Arafat died on Nov 11, could have started tackling the (security) situation there and then.

For his part, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on CNN "it's going to be another tragedy if people who conduct these acts of terror ... are allowed to continue to destroy the peace process and deny the Palestinian people their opportunity to have a state of their own." But the outgoing top US diplomat also praised Abbas, saying he was "a good Man" who would soon head a government that "has a solid security apparatus that will go after these terrorists."

And a high-ranking official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office highlighted that the latest attack "would not stop a future meeting" between Sharon and Abbas. "This attack shows that future talks must be focused on security issues and that the Palestinian leadership must fight terrorism," he added on condition of anonymity. -AFP