ID :
20493
Mon, 09/22/2008 - 10:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20493
The shortlink copeid
Czech envoy among 60 killed in Pak blast, Qaeda hand suspected
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Sep 21 (PTI) Rescuers retrieved more bodies Sunday from the burnt-out shell of the bombed Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, pushing the death toll from one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country to at least 60, including the Czech ambassador and an American.
The scale of the attack bore tell-tale signs of al-Qaeda
network, which is closely linked with the Pakistani Taliban
waging a bloody insurgency in the country, U.S. intelligence
officials were quoted as saying a day after the massive truck
bombing shook the heart of Islamabad.
With some 180 people falling prey to attacks in Pakistan
over the past one month, President Asif Ali Zardari Sunday
vowed to eliminate the "cancer" of terrorism from the country.
At least four more charred bodies were brought out of
the gutted five-star hotel Sunday as rescuers searched the
remains of the smouldering building.
The huge blast, in which officials said about 1,000
kilograms of explosives were used, ruptured gas pipelines and
triggered a fire that razed through the five-storey 290-room
hotel, popular among foreigners, especially diplomats.
The blaze was brought under control by fire-fighters
about 13 hours after the suicide bomber struck at 8 pm last
night, when the hotel was packed with guests.
The army joined rescue workers at the site to clear the
rubble and to search the building. Officials said it was
feared that some more bodies could still be found from the
charred rooms on the upper floors of the luxury hotel.
The explosion and the fire injured 260 people, including
over 20 foreigners.
The Czech Ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, 47, was
among the 60 people killed, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
said. Officials at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences
said a US national was among those killed.
A statement issued by the Interior Ministry said two
foreign nationals had died and another 21 were injured. The
nationalities of the injured foreigners were being
ascertained, it said.
A Danish diplomat, several Americans and Britons, three
or four Germans and two Saudi nationals were among the
injured, Geo TV reported.
Forensic and explosive experts from the army and
security agencies scoured through a crater -– about 25 feet
deep and 30 feet wide -– created by the blast outside the
hotel in their search for clues.
A joint investigation team headed by the Director General
of the Federal Investigation Agency is probing the attack and
is expected to submit its initial report within 24 hours.
The government announced a reward of Rs ten million for
information about the perpetrators of the attack, believed to
be the most devastating suicide bombing witnessed here.
Some reports said a small car rammed into the gate of the
hotel minutes before the suicide bomber struck in the truck.
However, there was no official confirmation of this account.
The suicide bomber had probably intended to attack
Pakistan's Parliament during President Asif Ali Zardari's
maiden address there but switched to the 'optional' target
after failing to enter the high-security area, officials said.
Rehman Malik, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior
Affairs, said that authorities had received intelligence
reports on Thursday that "some big suicide attempt" would be
made on Parliament during Zardari's address yesterday.
Malik said he and the Interior Ministry experts believed
the truck used in the attack tried to enter Islamabad's "red
zone" -– a high security area in which Parliament, Supreme
Court, presidency and Prime Minister's House are located -– at
the time of Zardari's speech.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but
security officials have pointed the finger at the Pakistani
Taliban, which has been behind several recent suicide bombings
that have killed hundreds in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Zardari Sunday vowed to eliminate the "cancer"
of terrorism from the country and appealed to Pakistanis to
back the government's efforts to combat militants.
"Terrorism is an epidemic, a cancer inside Pakistan that
we will wipe out," Zardari said in a brief address to the
nation before he departed for the US to participate in the UN
General Assembly session.
The attack last night came hours after Zardari said in
his maiden address to a joint sitting of both houses of
parliament that the government was determined to root out
terrorism and vowed that terrorists would not be allowed to
use the Pakistani soil to launch attacks against any country.
He appealed to "all democratic forces to come forward and
save Pakistan" and said he know well the pain and anguish that
acts of terrorism bring as he had experienced the
assassination of his wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, in a
suicide attack last year. PTI RHL
Islamabad, Sep 21 (PTI) Rescuers retrieved more bodies Sunday from the burnt-out shell of the bombed Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, pushing the death toll from one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country to at least 60, including the Czech ambassador and an American.
The scale of the attack bore tell-tale signs of al-Qaeda
network, which is closely linked with the Pakistani Taliban
waging a bloody insurgency in the country, U.S. intelligence
officials were quoted as saying a day after the massive truck
bombing shook the heart of Islamabad.
With some 180 people falling prey to attacks in Pakistan
over the past one month, President Asif Ali Zardari Sunday
vowed to eliminate the "cancer" of terrorism from the country.
At least four more charred bodies were brought out of
the gutted five-star hotel Sunday as rescuers searched the
remains of the smouldering building.
The huge blast, in which officials said about 1,000
kilograms of explosives were used, ruptured gas pipelines and
triggered a fire that razed through the five-storey 290-room
hotel, popular among foreigners, especially diplomats.
The blaze was brought under control by fire-fighters
about 13 hours after the suicide bomber struck at 8 pm last
night, when the hotel was packed with guests.
The army joined rescue workers at the site to clear the
rubble and to search the building. Officials said it was
feared that some more bodies could still be found from the
charred rooms on the upper floors of the luxury hotel.
The explosion and the fire injured 260 people, including
over 20 foreigners.
The Czech Ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, 47, was
among the 60 people killed, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
said. Officials at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences
said a US national was among those killed.
A statement issued by the Interior Ministry said two
foreign nationals had died and another 21 were injured. The
nationalities of the injured foreigners were being
ascertained, it said.
A Danish diplomat, several Americans and Britons, three
or four Germans and two Saudi nationals were among the
injured, Geo TV reported.
Forensic and explosive experts from the army and
security agencies scoured through a crater -– about 25 feet
deep and 30 feet wide -– created by the blast outside the
hotel in their search for clues.
A joint investigation team headed by the Director General
of the Federal Investigation Agency is probing the attack and
is expected to submit its initial report within 24 hours.
The government announced a reward of Rs ten million for
information about the perpetrators of the attack, believed to
be the most devastating suicide bombing witnessed here.
Some reports said a small car rammed into the gate of the
hotel minutes before the suicide bomber struck in the truck.
However, there was no official confirmation of this account.
The suicide bomber had probably intended to attack
Pakistan's Parliament during President Asif Ali Zardari's
maiden address there but switched to the 'optional' target
after failing to enter the high-security area, officials said.
Rehman Malik, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Interior
Affairs, said that authorities had received intelligence
reports on Thursday that "some big suicide attempt" would be
made on Parliament during Zardari's address yesterday.
Malik said he and the Interior Ministry experts believed
the truck used in the attack tried to enter Islamabad's "red
zone" -– a high security area in which Parliament, Supreme
Court, presidency and Prime Minister's House are located -– at
the time of Zardari's speech.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but
security officials have pointed the finger at the Pakistani
Taliban, which has been behind several recent suicide bombings
that have killed hundreds in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Zardari Sunday vowed to eliminate the "cancer"
of terrorism from the country and appealed to Pakistanis to
back the government's efforts to combat militants.
"Terrorism is an epidemic, a cancer inside Pakistan that
we will wipe out," Zardari said in a brief address to the
nation before he departed for the US to participate in the UN
General Assembly session.
The attack last night came hours after Zardari said in
his maiden address to a joint sitting of both houses of
parliament that the government was determined to root out
terrorism and vowed that terrorists would not be allowed to
use the Pakistani soil to launch attacks against any country.
He appealed to "all democratic forces to come forward and
save Pakistan" and said he know well the pain and anguish that
acts of terrorism bring as he had experienced the
assassination of his wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, in a
suicide attack last year. PTI RHL
