A couple of things with this one. I guess the street was only 30ft from the hotel itself, so this kind of attack was all dependent on the size of bomb. And boy what a bomb. It left a 24 ft deep, 59 ft wide crater! That is big, and it looks like they packed the vehicle with all types of explosive and munitions–mines, artillery shells, RDX, mortars, etc. The most interesting component of the bomb was the aluminum powder. This was to add more of an incendiary effect, and torch the hotel. And the succeeded.
If you watch this video, you will see that there was a minor explosion that took place in the truck bomb, before the main explosive blew up. It looks like the guards reacted to this more as an accident, and the resulting fire was treated as just some result of an accident. Basically, draw in the emergency personnel, then detonate. Or it could be a screw up of the terrorists, but I kind of doubt it. No word on who the DOD employees belonged to, and my heart goes out to the families and friends during their time of loss. –Head Jundi
—————————————————————–
DOD employees killed in Pakistan blast
September 21, 2008 13:46 EDT
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Pakistan says two Defense Department employees are among at least 53 people killed in the truck bombing at the Islamabad Marriott hotel yesterday.
He says a third American, a contractor for the State Department, is unaccounted for.
Three U.S. Embassy employees and an embassy contractor were injured.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but officials and experts say the scale of the blast and its high-profile target are the hallmarks of media-savvy al-Qaida.