21 September 2008

Oh, now they think it's a good idea

Go here to see the video of the Islamabad bomber at work.
Pakistan's government has pledged to take targeted action against militants, a day after a suicide bomb killed 53 people in the capital, Islamabad. Interior Ministry adviser Rehman Malik said raids would be carried out in some 'hotspots' near the Afghan border. Earlier, the authorities revealed that a truck laden with 600kg of high-grade explosives had rammed the Marriott Hotel security gate before blowing up.
Rescuers have been combing the wreckage for survivors and bodies. The blast left 266 people with injuries. Although most of those killed were Pakistani, the Czech ambassador and two US defence department workers were among the dead.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack, but Mr Malik suggested responsibility lay with al-Qaeda and Taleban militants based in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on the Afghan border.
CCTV footage of the moments before the blast show a six-wheeler lorry ramming the security barrier at the hotel gate. Shots are fired and the vehicle starts to burn. Security guards initially scatter, but return to try to douse the flames. The footage breaks off at the moment of the blast because the camera was destroyed. It created a crater about eight meters deep, and triggered a fire which engulfed the 290-room, five-storey building for hours.
Officials said the lorry contained explosives as well as grenades and mortars. Aluminium powder was used to accelerate the explosion and added to the ferocity of the blaze. "I do not believe this is a breakdown in security. The attackers had disguised the truck well as it was covered with a tarpaulin and loaded with bricks and gravel," Mr Malik said. Witnesses described a scene of horror as blood-covered victims were pulled from the wreckage and guests and staff ran for cover from shattered glass and flames.
Immediately after the bombing, newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari vowed to root out the "cancer" of terrorism in Pakistan. He has now flown to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session, where he will meet US President George W Bush on the sidelines. The meeting comes amid tension between the two countries over US attacks on militants in tribal areas of Pakistan, close to the Afghan border.

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