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Pakistan was in the grip of senseless violence from Karachi to Peshawar while security forces claimed to have killed over 70 militants in the frontier regions. Blast in a luxury hotel in Peshawar coincided with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani outlining a two-pronged strategy to curb target killings in Karachi.
The premier, however, made it clear in Karachi on Tuesday that these incidents of killings of workers of MQM and other outfits had no link with militancy in tribal areas, media reported.
This was the second-biggest blast in five-star hotels. Earlier, in September last year, more than 1,300 pounds of explosives were packed into a construction truck that detonated outside an Islamabad hotel, killing 57 people, including two Americans and a diplomat on September 20, 2008.
Media had then quoted Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik saying that the attack at Marriott "is the biggest attack, volume-wise" in Pakistan in seven years.
Two American military personnel, who worked for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, were among those killed, the US military said. A Lithuanian and the Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, also were among the fatalities.
Naturally, the powerful blast on Tuesday evening dominated the newspapers headlines. Leading dallies Dawn, Jang, The News and The Nation reported huge explosions ripped through the sole five-star hotel of the Frontier province's metropolis on Tuesday evening, killing 11 people. More than 50 people, including foreigners, were injured.
Police said that armed men first launched a frontal assault on the main entrance to the Pearl Continental Hotel, killing security guards. They then lowered down an electronic barrier so that an explosives-laden mini-truck could get in, the newspapers said.
'The assailants first killed the security guards on the main gate to lower the electronic barrier and then went inside the main parking lot, firing indiscriminately.'
'A mini-truck laden with explosives then entered the hotel premises and exploded in the main parking lot close to the main building,' Capital City Police Chief Safwat Ghayyir told Dawn.
'I was going for my night shift when I heard intense firing between the security guards and the armed men. Then there was a big explosion. I don't remember what happened next,' said Nasir, one of the wounded security guards at the hotel. He said that three armed men, wearing military uniform and riding on a white-double cabin pick-up truck, started shooting at the security guards while one of them was firing into the air. The same truck then drove into the parking lot and exploded, he said.
BBC reported that Peshawar, close to Swat Valley, has been a symbol of Peshawar's contact with the rest of the world, a place where government officials and foreign dignitaries are accustomed to staying, has been attacked. The attack killed a Serbian UN refugee agency worker and a UNICEF worker from the Philippines. The injured include a British man and a German national, Peshawar district coordination officer Sahibzada Anis said. At least a dozen UN employees were staying at the hotel at the time of the explosion
The premier, however, made it clear in Karachi on Tuesday that these incidents of killings of workers of MQM and other outfits had no link with militancy in tribal areas, media reported.
This was the second-biggest blast in five-star hotels. Earlier, in September last year, more than 1,300 pounds of explosives were packed into a construction truck that detonated outside an Islamabad hotel, killing 57 people, including two Americans and a diplomat on September 20, 2008.
Media had then quoted Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik saying that the attack at Marriott "is the biggest attack, volume-wise" in Pakistan in seven years.
Two American military personnel, who worked for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, were among those killed, the US military said. A Lithuanian and the Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, also were among the fatalities.
Naturally, the powerful blast on Tuesday evening dominated the newspapers headlines. Leading dallies Dawn, Jang, The News and The Nation reported huge explosions ripped through the sole five-star hotel of the Frontier province's metropolis on Tuesday evening, killing 11 people. More than 50 people, including foreigners, were injured.
Police said that armed men first launched a frontal assault on the main entrance to the Pearl Continental Hotel, killing security guards. They then lowered down an electronic barrier so that an explosives-laden mini-truck could get in, the newspapers said.
'The assailants first killed the security guards on the main gate to lower the electronic barrier and then went inside the main parking lot, firing indiscriminately.'
'A mini-truck laden with explosives then entered the hotel premises and exploded in the main parking lot close to the main building,' Capital City Police Chief Safwat Ghayyir told Dawn.
'I was going for my night shift when I heard intense firing between the security guards and the armed men. Then there was a big explosion. I don't remember what happened next,' said Nasir, one of the wounded security guards at the hotel. He said that three armed men, wearing military uniform and riding on a white-double cabin pick-up truck, started shooting at the security guards while one of them was firing into the air. The same truck then drove into the parking lot and exploded, he said.
BBC reported that Peshawar, close to Swat Valley, has been a symbol of Peshawar's contact with the rest of the world, a place where government officials and foreign dignitaries are accustomed to staying, has been attacked. The attack killed a Serbian UN refugee agency worker and a UNICEF worker from the Philippines. The injured include a British man and a German national, Peshawar district coordination officer Sahibzada Anis said. At least a dozen UN employees were staying at the hotel at the time of the explosion
