Asma Mirza and Adil Najam
(New videos and pictures added).
At aftaar time, Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was attacked by an explosive truck. Reportedly it has totally destroyed the hotel. This was the second bomb blast at the hotel in less than a year, adds to the feeling that Islamabad is now a major target of these dastardly killers (here, here, here). The pictures (from BBC) tell part of the story. But only a part.
One should note that this was the biggest of but just one of three suicide bomb blasts in Pakistan. The other two were in the tribal areas of Pakistan where Pakistan military was targeted.
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These are yet more in the long string of attacks on Pakistan. A list so long that one has even lost a sense of how long it is!
Here is an incomplete list of only the ‘major’ suicide attacks on Pakistan this year (from The News):
More than 1,200 people have been killed in attacks, most of them suicide bombings blasts, in the past year. Here is a list of major attacks since the start of 2008:
January 10: Sixteen police and four civilians killed in a suicide bomb attack on police outside the high court in the city of Lahore.
January 14: Bomb kills 10 people at a crowded street market in Karachi.
February 9: Suicide bomber kills 25 people at opposition election rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda.
February 16: Suicide car bomber strikes a rally by party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto in the northwestern tribal town of Parachinar, killing 37.
February 22: Roadside bomb hits wedding party in northern Swat, killing at least 14 people.
February 25: Suicide bomber kills army surgeon general Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig and seven other people in Rawalpindi.
February 29: A suicide bomber kills 44 people in Mingora, the main town in the troubled Swat valley, during the funeral of three policemen killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day.
March 2: Suicide bomber kills 43 at a meeting of anti-militant tribal elders in the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel.
March 4: Two suicide bombers attack Pakistan Naval War College in Lahore, killing five people and wounding 19.
March 10: Suicide attackers detonate two huge truck bombs in Lahore, killing 26 people and partly demolishing the Federal Investigation Agency building in the city.
March 15: Bomb blast at Italian restaurant in Islamabad kills a Turkish woman and wounds 10 others, including four agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
May 19: Suicide bomber kills 13 at an army bakery in the northwestern town of Mardan.
July 2: Suicide car bomb outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad kills eight people.
July 6: Suicide bomber kills 15 people in an attack on police in Islamabad during a rally to mark the anniversary of an army raid on the radical Red Mosque.
August 12: Roadside bomb rips through Pakistan air force bus in Peshawar, killing 13.
August 19: Suicide bomber kills 23 people at a hospital in northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan.
August 21: Twin suicide attacks kill at least 57 people outside Pakistan’s main arms factory in Wah, near Islamabad.
August 28: A bomb attack targeting policemen kill 10 people in the northwest garrison town of Bannu near the Afghan border.
September 3: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani escapes an apparent assassination attempt when two shots hit his motorcade, just three days before the country’s presidential election.
September 6: Suicide bomber kills 33 people at a security checkpoint near Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.
September 11: Suspected militants hurl grenades and fire into a mosque in Peshawar killing at least 20 worshippers.
September 20: A suspected suicide attack outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad killing at least 40 people, with more feared trapped inside the building.
According to police sources, the attacking truck was carrying 1000 KG (1 Ton) of explosives. Causing massive damage and causalities. Supposedly F-5 is one of the most secure area of Islamabad. 40+ killed in this havoc and many injured.The security was even tighter today than usual because the new President, Asif Ali Zardari, was making his first address to the parliament. Some wonder how related this was to what he had to say there:
The ones killed include the drivers who were waiting outside in parking lot and the large number of security guards. Also note, just next to Marriott there is a bus stop as well and a queue of taxis wait there. Emergency declared in all hospitals.Gas pipelines was exploded in the process causing more damage. Building nearby such as Balochistan House, Gulshan e Jinnah (living apartments for federal govt. employees) badly affected as well.
According to the news analysts as seen reporting on TV, it can be one of the biggest explosion seen in Pakistan’s history. Analyst Najam Sethi aptly said, “This is 9/11 of Pakistan“.
Rahul…
Amen to all you said! Thanks for stopping by!
Ameen! Because killing of innocent is haram in the shariah! However, Allah reserve the right of forgiving the Muslims if they committed the act and Muslims don’t burn in hell forever. As I said you don’t understand my position nor that of people like me because you guys are blinded by the Mullah bashing culture.
May Allah destroy the secularists! Can you say ameen to that? I hope so!
D_a_n, you are too stupid to be talked with. And, please for once try to write a response to me where you actually try to refute what I write and without mentioning “hazart-e-Ali” or “hazart-e-Imam Hussien”, my shia friend!
The attack on the Marriot hotel is one of the bloodiest terror acts. I am an Indian, far away from Islamabad, but I still feel the pain. I hope
auk…
Since they’ve already killed off the pro-government Maliks, I don’t see how any “covert” attempts at isolating them will work… also, they cannot unfortunately be picked off one at a time because of their cowardly habit of hiding amongst innocent civilians…
I agree with your suggestion of using the local population against them somehow… despite the gloom, I feel that in recent times there has been some heartening news, in that there were several reports of locals turning against the Taliban and in a few instances driving them out… however, the Taliban’s cowardice in hiding among civilians when attacked complicates this approach…
I agree with most of the rest of what you say, in particular about the purging of the maddrassas… too bad we are so beholden to the evil Saudis for oil that no government will undertake such a task…
As for the ton of explosives, there is an institution which fostered these killers for years… something suggests they are still not completely on board, despite the posturing of the new chief… there is an article in the Daily Times by Rafia Zakaria that suggests that another coup could be around the corner, and such attacks may fit in very nicely for that to happen… it is a complicated world we live in for sure…
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=20089\20 \story_20-9-2008_pg3_5
Umar, I am not an expert at explosives, but before I suggest anything, let me say that this bombing is different in scale than anything we have seen so far. If that is the case, the enemy has graduated and has taken this war to the next level. It is for the experts to decide, but I wonder how some Taliban are capable of handling such an act, and picking such sensitive targets at will.
I can think of 3 things for now. America has to stop attacking targets inside Pakistan. If American Intelligence has credible evidence, they better share it with Pakistan, and only Pakistani troops should be allowed to target these elements inside its territory. Two, there are saner elements inside FATA, and our strategy should be covert more than overt. Isolate the enemy inside these regions by cooperating with the local population, and pick them up one by one. There are a lot of local Maliks who have been killed for siding with the government. There are about half a million people who have been rendered homeless in Bajaur alone as a result of the recent operations there. These folks are no different than you and me, trying to live peaceful lives. Lets use them to identify the enemy. Three, we have to purge the madrassahs, and this will be a long arduous process. Every single Madrassah from which a bomber comes from has to pay the price, by putting their leaders in isolated cells for life, no questions asked. I am amazed as to why we haven’t seen a single conviction in this regard while all of this has been going on. Even if a madrassah teaches hatred, put these so called Maulvis behind bars, irrespective of whose government it is in Pakhtunkhwa or whichever part of the country they are in. If this fills up the jails, then so be it. We can build more jails. Peace yes, but peace on our terms, and not their.