Dozens dead in Pakistan hotel blast ( Marriott Hotel - Number now 50+ )

Al Jazeera and agencies ^ | Al Jazeera and agencies

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Dozens dead in Pakistan hotel blast

At least 40 people were killed and 100 wounded in the explosion at the Marriott [AFP] At least 40 people have been killed and 100 others wounded after a truck-bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Reports said a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into the entrance of the hotel. Many foreigners stay in the hotel while visiting Pakistan and it is heavily guarded. The blast resounded through Islamabad. Reuters news agency reported that at least 40 people had been killed. Police sources also said the death toll stood at 40. But there were fears the death toll could rise as many people were feared trapped in the hotel. 'Raging fires' Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Islamabad, said it is "probably the most powerful explosion [in Pakistan] in recent times". "Fires are still raging and no one knows how many people have been kileld in the explosion." He said ambulances were still arriving at the scene, indicating that there "must be high casualties indeed". "Whoever is responsible for this attack chose his target carefully. A very professionaly carried out job," said Hyder. Talat Masood, a military analyst, told Al Jazeera that the attack was "well-planned and co-ordinated". Imran Khan, also reporting for Al Jazeera, said he had seen a number of bodies removed from the scene of the explosion and that the building was in danger of collapsing. He said the driver of the vehicle didn't go through the security checkpoint. "This is a massive explosion. Fire is spreading very quickly and has taken over the entire hotel," Khan said. Soldiers killed The Islamabad bombing came on the heels of another which left at least eight Pakistani soldiers dead in a suicide attack on a military convoy in the country's northwest tribal region. The attack took place as the troops passed through North Waziristan on Saturday, a security official said. "Eight soldiers have died and some 12 others were injured," the official said, adding the death toll may increase. Al Jazeera's Hyder said many soldiers had been killed in attacks in the area before. "This attack occurred on a stretch of road that has become known as IED-ally," he said, referring to the acronym for an improvised explosive device. A blast on Friday in Quetta at a religious school killed five students [AFP] North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, is a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters and has been the scene of fierce battles and suicide attacks over the past several years. A large number of Arab and Central Asian fighters linked to al-Qaeda are reported to be hiding near the town of Mir Ali, the site of Saturday's attack, officials said. Pakistan's new government has committed itself to the US-led campaign against the fighters even though the campaign is unpopular throughout the country. A senior official in the administration of George Bush, the US president, said on Friday Pakistan was not equipped to combat the fighters. "This is a problem that's been created in sovereign Pakistani territory and the problem is going to be solved when Pakistan has an ability to exercise control over that territory," Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, said. "We recognise that in the short term right now there are threats emanating out of that area that threaten Pakistan, that threaten our troops in Afghanistan and potentially threaten the homeland." Madrassa blast Saturday's violence came a day after an explosion at an Islamic school, known as a madrassa, near the Pakistani city of Quetta, killed five students and wounded eleven others, according to Pakistani police. "The madrassa people say that someone threw explosives into it, but we are investigating," Wazir Khan Nasir, a police official, said, referring to Friday's incident. "We are looking into all possibilities including ... whether they were preparing some explosives," another official said. Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan, a southwestern province bordering Afghanistan, where a large number of madrassas were set up in the 1980s to raise volunteers to fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in a war covertly funded by the United States and Saudi Arabia. The Taliban came from the Baluchistan madrassas. But Baluchistan is also fiercely independent inside Pakistan and ethnic Baluch fighters are battling Pakistani security forces for more autonomy for their region.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

CIA personnel in the Hotel may have been target of powerful explosion.

[farmer18th]

The joys of Islam.

[82ndABNOfficer]

I agree, this HAPPY DANCE with PAKISTAN isn’t accomplishing much but an increase of dead US and NATO soldiers in Afghanistan. Everything we have worked towards is starting to slowly come apart because of these goat F*ckers in the FATA ( Federally Administered Tribal Area) of PAK. We need to go on a serious offensive. Al-Qaeda and Taliban will have their backs to the wall and no where to run to if we launch a massive offensive against those regions. Tactical nukes would be a great start, but MOAB’s would work on these Taliban strongholds. Pakistan is too afraid to do it for political reasons, but if they don’t do something fast, both Afghanistan and Pakistan are going to turn into a major mess.

[NormsRevenge]

The new leaders of Pakistan better step up actions real quick or they will be blown up in no time.

.. or just get out of the way and let us delouse the Waziristans and the NWFP.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Earlier thread:

At Least 2 Dead, 25 Injured in Pakistani Hotel Explosion

[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

Send in our the Obamanation, he will stop these bombings....send in his freak-en mad cow wife....

[Westlander]

More here- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26803768/

[mylife]

Twice the # that Ike took in Tx, and for what?

filthy muslim bastages

[mylife]

NATO is also fouling operations.
NATO is holding us back.

[AndyPH]

No dancing in the streets, no sweets being handed out...Poor organization ...normally when a suicide bomber explode in Israel or the west,we have a display of joy by the follower of Momo.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks ....from your link....

*****************************EXCERPT**************************

Associated Press reporters saw at least nine bodies scattered at the scene. Scores of people, including foreigners, were running out — some of them stained with blood.

Witnesses spoke of a smaller blast followed by a much larger one.

'Smoke and darkness'
A U.S. State Department official using a section of white pipe as a walking stick led three colleagues through the rubble from the charred building, one of them bleeding heavily from a wound on the side of his head.

One of the four, who identified himself only as Tony, said they had begun moving toward the rear of the Chinese restaurant after the first blast when the second one threw them against the back wall.

[singfreedom]

Dang, Ernest, I knew the CIA, and most Westerners, stay at the Marriott, but I’d not thought of that possibility! The death toll has gone up to 55, according to FOX, but they still expect more. They think maybe the bomb ruptured a gas line, hence the huge, intense fire.

The bomb, by the way, sounded about like the one in Oklahoma City.

[Yaelle]

So this is an attack against America and her interests? Is this Al Qaeda?

[libh8er]

The religion of peace, harmony and brotherhood.

[Bull Man]

So much for excluding violence during the Ramadan holiday. Three cheers for the “religion of peace! /s

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Very Likely....fits their style.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Times of India report:

Bomb rocks Islamabad hotel, at least 40 dead

***************************EXCERPT****************************

Hours before the blast President Asif Ali Zardari, making his first address to parliament, several hundred metres to the east of the hotel, said terrorism had to be rooted out.

[AndyPH]

“The religion of peace, harmony and brotherhood.”
you forgot tolerance...Islam is according to many politicians in Europe (where I am from ).Poor deluded idiots that they are.

[waus]

If barry wins, today’s event would be considered an extremely minor occurrence in an Islamic world that would be bolstered and enthused by his victory.

But, despite it’s minuscule size, The One would probably be doing that stupid Ellen dance in the middle of the Oval Office right now.

[singfreedom]

I don't think they know yet, but it could be a twofer—an attack against the U.S. AND the Paki government that is sending soldiers into Waziristan.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From CNN:

Deadly blast targets Marriott Hotel in Islamabad

*******************************EXCERPT***********************

But the hotel manager told reporters the blast went off outside the gates of the hotel, where a standard room costs more than $300 per night. The hotel is located near the compound that contains the parliament building, the prime minister's house, the Supreme Court and the presidency.

The blast caused a natural gas leak that set the top floor of the five-story, 258-room hotel on fire, police said. The blaze quickly engulfed the entire structure.

People were still trapped in the hotel, Baber said.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Roggio makes mention of attacks on the Paki Soldiers:

40 Killed in Islamabad suicide attack

****************************EXCERPT******************************

Suicide attack in North Waziristan

The blast in Islamabad coincided with a suicide strike against a Pakistani military convoy in North Waziristan. A suicide car bomber rammed into the 30-vehicle convoy as it travelled from Bannu to Miramshah, the administrative seat of North Waziristan.

Ten soldiers were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in the strike.

[csvset]

A Paki newspaper says 60 dead, they expect the toll to reach 100.

At least 60 killed in Islamabad suicide attack

SLAMABAD: At least 60 people were killed and 200 others injured when an explosives laden truck rammed into a five star hotel here on Saturday, according to a foreign news agency.

The wounded, many of them critically were rushed to the local hospitals after the deadly explosion.

The powerful explosion caused fire in many parts of the hotel besides shattering the windowpanes of the buildings around the hotel.

Emergency has been declared in the hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

About 1000 kilograms of explosive material was used in the deadly explosion, said police.

This hotel in Islamabad is a favorite place for foreigners to stay and gather, and it has previously been targeted by militants.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, where a fire also burned, smoke hovered and the carcasses of vehicles were scattered.

According to senior correspondent of Geo News, Hamid Mir, about 100 people are feared dead in the attack.

The blast left a vast crater some 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide in front of the main building where flames leapt from the windows and rescuers ferried a stream of bloodied bodies from the gutted building.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was hosting an Iftar dinner at the nearby Prime Minister's Secretariat. The event was attended by President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. There was no reports of anyone being injured at the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, and its exact cause was unclear. But Pakistan, a U.S. ally in the war on terror, has faced a wave of militant violence in recent weeks following army-led offensives against insurgents in its border regions, though the capital has avoided most of the bloodshed.

[Steel Wolf]

Any word on U.S. personnel yet?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See #12,..excerpt from the link at #8.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Bloomberg update has some new detail:

Islamabad Marriott Hotel Blast Leaves 40 People Dead (Update2)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

see #27.

Some American Citizens killed....

[Perdogg]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2086627/posts?page=7#7

[pissant]

You can be sure Americans were the targets as well.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the link.

[Steel Wolf]

This is very bad. Some friends of my friends work that area, and I think it's unlikely there were no U.S. casualties. I guess we'll wait and see. On the broader issues:

1. It seems that al-Qa'ida been planning this for some time. A truck carrying one ton of explosives (that left a 20 foot deep crater) isn't rigged up and pushed on a target overnight. It looks like good surveillance was done, probably from the inside. They knew right where to hit, and apparently, when to hit.

2. This tier of American support, from high level intelligence and law enforcement, has been very effective against al-Qa'ida. They're obviously feeling capable enough to strike back, to blunt our support for the Pakistani agencies. They're done playing defense.

3. This aggressive move also indicates that capability is migrating from Waziristan into the cities. Spreading, I should say. Pakistan is evolving into a real question mark.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Just damn. Damn them. Rotten bastards.

[Marine_Uncle]

From Bloomberg's
"The attack occurred hours after President Asif Ali Zardari made his first speech to parliament, pledging to fight terrorism."
Well now he has yet another good reason to start getting real tough with these goon squads and figure out how to purge all the spies out of their military and ISF.
The pussy footing has to end.

[G8 Diplomat]

Pakistan ping

Sorry if I missed anyone, I don’t have the list with me on this computer so I did it from memory