NABLUS, Sept 16: Gunmen attacked churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday after a day of protests against comments Pope Benedict made about Islam.

No one was hurt in a string of fire bombings and shootings that caused no major damage.

Five churches came under attack in Nablus.

Masked men hurled fire bombs at the Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches.

There was no damage at the Anglican church and a wall was scorched at the Greek Orthodox church.

In a second wave of attacks several hours later, assailants, this time unmasked, poured petrol outside the gates of the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Protestant churches, starting fires that were swiftly extinguished.

No one claimed responsibility for the Nablus incidents and police said they were searching for the assailants.

“We denounce these attacks,” Nablus Mayor Adli Yaeesh said. “We do not accept the pope’s remarks, but this is not the way to protest against them. Christians are our brothers.”

In the Gaza Strip, gunmen in a car pulled up outside the Greek Orthodox church compound and fired bullets over its roof.

In a telephone call, a man who said he represented ‘The Sword of Islam’, an unknown group, claimed responsibility.

“We have just fired at one church in Gaza City. We warn that if the pope does not go on television and apologise for the offensive comments, we will bomb the churches of Gaza,” the caller said.—Reuters