ISLAMABAD — Pakistani officials said Saturday's suicide blast that killed 53 people at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda and showed how the group was operating freely inside Pakistan and was determined to wreak havoc on the nation's already weak economy.
At least 50 were killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack on the luxury Marriott Hotel in the center of Pakistan's capital. Video courtesy of Reuters. (Sept. 20)
Rehman Malik, Pakistan's interior minister, said Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, an outlawed militant umbrella group operating from Pakistan's lawless tribal region, was involved in the attack. The group is said to be closely linked with al Qaeda, which has grown in strength in Pakistan. Many other Pakistani militant groups have mutated into small cells, after being banned, and work as an extension of al Qaeda.
Officials said Pakistan Taliban Movement, a little-known Islamist militant outfit that claimed responsibility to private television channels, was one such cell and is part of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan network.
Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, said the bomber had attacked the hotel only after tight security prevented him from reaching Parliament or the prime minister's office. “The purpose was to destabilize democracy,” Mr. Gilani told reporters Sunday. “They want to destroy us economically.”
Pakistan's economy already is suffering and the blast at a hotel that was popular with foreign visitors and well-heeled Pakistanis could accelerate capital flight and further discourage investors.
Among the dead were the Czech ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, 47 years old, and two members of the U.S. armed forces who the U.S. Defense Department said were assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
“The Islamabad bombing dents the already low confidence of international investors in Pakistan,” said Muddassar Malik, chief executive of BMA Capital, a securities firm in Karachi.
Rescue teams searched the blackened hotel room by room Sunday. But the temperatures remained high and fires were still being put out in some parts. A senior official said there could still be bodies inside.
Some 250 people were injured in the blast by a suicide bomber who rammed an explosive-laden truck into the hotel's outer gates.
Many of the guests staying in the hotel died of intense heat caused by the explosion and flaming gas from ruptured gas lines. Doctors at the city's main hospital said the death toll could rise.
View Slideshow
Associated Press
A view of the destruction caused by the bomb explosion.
President Asif Ali Zardari said the attack wouldn't deter Pakistan from fighting terrorism. “The terrorists have turned the happy moment of the restoration of democracy into grief,” he said in a television address early Sunday before leaving for the United Nations in New York, where he will meet President George W. Bush.
It wouldn't be the first time al Qaeda has been involved in an attack in Pakistan's capital. In June, a suicide car bomber killed at least six people near the Danish embassy in Islamabad. A statement attributed to al Qaeda took responsibility for that blast, which was believed to have targeted Denmark because of the publication there of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
The latest attack came as Pakistani forces stepped up an operation against Islamist militants in the Bajur tribal region, which is viewed by Pakistani and Western intelligence agencies as the center of al Qaeda activities. Many observers suspect the Marriott attack was a retaliation to the military offensive.
Al Qaeda and its allies among tribal militants have repeatedly warned they will increase attacks in Pakistan's heartland if the military operation isn't stopped.
Anti-American sentiments also are running high after an increase in missile strikes from U.S. pilotless drones against suspected militant hideouts inside Pakistan.
The attack also raises questions about security in the capital, which already was at a high level because of Mr. Zardari's address to a joint session of Parliament hours before the bomb detonated.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
