Strong Bomb Hits Hotel in Northwest Pakistan
June 10, 2009
By SALMAN MASOOD
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A powerful explosion Tuesday outside a five-star hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed at least five people and wounded 25, Pakistani officials.
The blast was powerful enough to be heard for miles, witnesses said, and television images showed wounded people, with blood stained clothes, being helped out of the smoke filled lobby of the hotel, the Pearl Continental, which is one of the few major hotels in the city that cater to Western visitors.
Initial news reports suggested that militants opened fire on guards at the hotel and then rushed a vehicle loaded with explosives at a security check post. Similar tactics were used on May 28 by militants who attempted to attack the headquarters of the Pakistani intelligence service in Lahore, killing 26 people.
Sahibzada Anis, the district coordination of Peshawar, told Geo television that 5 people were killed while 25 were wounded in the blast. A guest at the hotel, Hafiz Faisal, told GEO the explosion left a big crater on the left side of the hotel.
The attack followed threats by Taliban leaders, who warned Pakistanis recently that they were preparing “major attacks” in large cities. Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province and gateway to the tribal areas, has been the scene of frequent incursions by the insurgents and bombings in the past.
On the day of the Taliban warning, three bombs detonated in and around Peshawar, including at an electronics market and a police check point, as well as in Dera Ismail Khan, in the country’s troubled west, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens.
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