Fidel Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Well, there go my plans for a piss up. At 2:30pm Pakistan time, or 4:30pm Thai time the office shook. Someone has bombed the Islamabad Marriot. 2 dead at least. The Marriot is where I get my booze and this is the long weekend. I hope there aren't too many dead and injured... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Damn that Bush! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 We were expecting something this weekend as the Moharram festival culminates in processions of Suni Muslims beating themselves with bladed whips on Monday. ISLAMABAD, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed a security guard and himself in an attack outside the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Friday, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said. There was a wrecked car on the road at the side of the hotel, and a Reuters journalist saw blood and flesh scattered over the tarmac. "It was a suicide attack. The bomber and one security official of the hotel was killed," Sherpao told Reuters. At least six people were wounded, according to another Pakistani official. Police cordoned off the area and sirens wailed through the district, where many government buildings are located. The Marriott is one of Islamabad's main hotels, and is frequented by foreign diplomats and businessmen. The U.S. embassy barred staff from visiting the hotel after a small blast in the lobby in October, 2004. Seven people were wounded in that blast, including a U.S. diplomat, and the embassy advised U.S. citizens to stay away from the hotel after that blast, though the Pakistani government said it was caused by an electrical short circuit. Otherwise bomb attacks have been rare inside the capital in recent years. Security is tight and easier to enforce in the small, orderly purpose-built capital than it is in Pakistan's larger crowded, sprawling cities. Bombs, otherwise, go off all too regularly in Pakistan. Most of them are planted by Islamist militant groups angry over President Pervez Musharraf's alliance with the United States following al Qaeda's attacks on Washington and New York on Sept. 11 2001. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Hard to find anything yet, but the BBC came through. 'Suicide blast' at Pakistan hotel: A suicide bomber has killed himself and one other at a top hotel in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, officials say. Police have sealed off the blast area in the car park of the Marriott hotel. "It was a suicide attack. The bomber and one security official of the hotel was killed," Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told Reuters news agency. The Marriott is located near government buildings and diplomatic missions. Police say a number of people hurt in the explosion were taken to hospital. The BBC's Barbara Plett, who is at the scene, says part of the hotel and a number of cars have also been damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Yeah, bummer about the booze, Fidel... But the main thing is that you're ok. Stay safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Was the hotel a target because it does sell booze? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Hi Flasher, probably no coincidence that it comes less than a week after US forces shot a Pakistani soldier dead and injured 3 others in Northern Pakistan last week. There have also been a number of US air strikes on Pakistani soil recently, including one which killed 80 kids in a Madrasa (The Pakistani army claimed this attack but witnesses dispute this). This attack is probably in retaliation. Just seen a pic, the bomb went off just outside the bottle shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Don't think it was a target because of the Booze, probably because foreigners stay there. The other main hotel for foreigners in town, the Serena, is much more heavily fortified, so the Marriot is an easy target. This is a small town and there are only a few places where foreigners congregate. Better stay vigilant. We had already been restricted to our homes for this coming Monday & Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Strange retatliation ... a Pakistani killed himself and another Pakistani. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Well, retaliation against Pakistan's President/Western interests. Please don't take this as a dig against the US, but the military government here is backed by the US and has been taking tough action against militants at the request of the US. If they wanted to kill Pakistanis they wouldn't have gone for the Marriot. They normally go for markets, mosques.. that kind of thing. A suicide bombing at the Marriot to me means only one thing, they wanted to kill Westerners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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