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Pakistan suspects Islamic extremists behind double car bombing
Comes as a surprise, huh?
Pakistani authorities said they suspected a network of Islamic militants, possibly aided by Al-Qaeda, were behind a double car bomb attack near a US consul's residence in which a policeman was killed and 32 people injured. Two bombs exploded less than half an hour apart Wednesday afternoon in front of the Pakistan American Cultural Center, a private English school, and some 100 meters (yards) from the US Consul General's residence in the southern port city of Karachi. No one has been arrested so far. "Al-Qaeda maybe had a role," Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP Thursday.
"Such an organised attack cannot be just by local people. The attackers were real experts and operated in a very technical way." Shrapnel from the powerful second blast sprayed police and journalists who had been drawn by the first blast. A policeman died in hospital late Wednesday and a second officer was still in a critical condition. The cultural center is not affiliated to the US consulate but the attackers may have mistakenly thought it was, a US official in Washington said. Police cast suspicion on supporters of Harkatul Mujahedin al-Alaami, a gang of militants who unsuccessfully tried to blow up President Pervez Musharraf's motorcade in Karachi in April 2002 and detonated a car bomb outside the US consulate two months later, killing 12 Pakistanis. Followers may have retaliated for the arrests, days before the attack, of seven members, including suspected key terror operative Kamran Atif. On Monday, police had boasted of nearly smashing the network after arresting seven of its followers, but warned that a few members were still at large.
Posted by: Fred 2004-05-27 |
