A rchive Date
[ 14-06-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Pakistan ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSAttack0206/14_bomb-ap.html
U.S. Consulate attacked
Friday, June 14, 2002
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP-CP) - An attacker crashed a bomb-laden vehicle into a guard post outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Friday, killing himself and at least nine other people and injuring 45.
The massive blast incinerated a dozen cars, blew a three-metre-wide hole in the compound wall, and sent debris flying almost a kilometre.
No Americans were believed killed, but one U.S. marine and five Pakistani employees in the consulate, were slightly injured. The consulate has been operating with a skeleton staff since non-essential workers were sent home last month because of concerns for their safety.
It was not immediately clear whether any Canadian was among the victims.
"We're checking it out," said Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa.
The blast occurred less than a kilometre from the site where 11 French engineers and three others were killed in a suicide bombing last month. It also came on the heels of a visit to Pakistan by U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who left the country Thursday.
No one claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell on al-Qaida fugitives who have taken refuge in Pakistan since the collapse of Taliban rule in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Some of the victims were blown apart, making it difficult to determine exactly how many people were killed.
The Interior Ministry reported eight dead and 45 injured, but reporters counted 10 bodies taken to two local hospitals. The victims included four Pakistani police constables, a male passer-by and two unidentified women, along with the bomber, police said.
Police said the bomb was concealed in a white vehicle, believed to be a Suzuki van, that the driver crashed into a police kiosk at the southern end of the consulate at 11:08 a.m. local time.
The vehicle exploded after careering into one of the metre-high, sand-filled concrete barriers that encircle the compound. The barriers have gaps only wide enough to walk between.
The blast, heard several kilometres away, disintegrated the barrier, along with a section of the steel-reinforced wall behind it. Another barrier inside the wall was reduced to rubble, part of a huge tree was blown away, and windows in the four-storey consulate were shattered.
The explosion also damaged the nearby Marriott Hotel and other buildings as far as a block away.
Mark Wentworth, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Islamabad, said six consulate employees - one U.S. marine security guard and five Pakistani employees - suffered minor injuries when struck by flying debris.
He said the bomb exploded about 15 metres from the building and that the building sustained some structural damage.
Sharif Ajnabi, a private security guard, was sitting in a park across the street from the consulate.
"I heard a deafening explosion," he said. "There was smoke everywhere."
"Moments later, I saw a man's body flying in the air, and it fell near me. He was badly injured. Before we could give him water or medical help, he died. It was a horrifying scene."
As police sealed the area, emergency workers collected body parts and put them on sheets spread on the ground. Ambulances shuttled the injured to nearby hospitals. What appeared to be wreckage from the car was stuck in a water fountain and in trees.
The heavily secured consulate always has four layers of Pakistani and American guards. The sidewalk in front of the consulate normally is blocked and barricades shunt traffic away from lanes adjacent to the building. Few people are allowed inside - even U.S. citizens have to make appointments days in advance.
"This is sheer terrorism," said Javed Ashraf Hussein, the chief secretary of Sindh province, who visited the scene of carnage. "We have put this area under high alert and heavy security, but the terrorists struck."
He would not comment on who might be responsible.
Karachi Mayor Naimat Ullah offered sympathy for U.S. officials and vowed to arrest those behind the attack.
"The terrorists have no religion. They are not Muslim. They are not human. They are just terrorists," Ullah said.
Violence against foreigners by Islamic militants has increased since Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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