Suicide car bombing on Danish mission kills 8 in Pakistan
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Suicide car bombing on Danish mission kills 8 in Pakistan *
By DPA
Jun 2, 2008, 11:29 GMT
Islamabad/Copenhagen - At least eight people, including two policemen
and a foreigner, were killed and around two dozen others were injured in
a suicide car bombing at the main entrance of the Danish embassy in
Pakistan's capital Monday afternoon, officials said.
The blast partially damaged the diplomatic mission's building and an
adjacent office of the United Nations Development Programme in a posh
Islamabad neighbourhoods.
Asmatullah Marwat, chief of the state-run rescue service, said his staff
had moved eight bodies to two hospitals in the city. The nationality of
the foreigner was not yet confirmed.
But Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Amir Ali Ahmad disputed that version,
and confirmed only four deaths. 'Two policemen are among the dead,' he
said, insisting no foreigner was among the dead or injured.
Local authorities said they suspected the attack was carried out by
Islamic extremists enraged by repeated publication of Prophet Mohammed
cartoons in Danish newspapers.
'We had reports for the last six months that the Danish embassy could be
targeted anytime,' an intelligence officer who spoke on condition of
anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller condemned the bombing as
'completely unacceptable' and called for a special meeting of cabinet
ministers.
The minister told broadcaster TV2 that there were 'fanatics and
terrorists out there and we are doing what we can to protect ourselves.'
The Danish Foreign Ministry revised its travel advisory for Pakistan
Monday, urging Danish nationals to avoid unnecessary trips to the south
Asian nation. Danish nationals in the country were advised to be on the
alert.
Naheed Irshauddin, a spokeswoman at the Denmark Consulate General, told
dpa the consulate in the southern port city of Karachi requested more
security following Monday's deadly bombing in Islamabad.
Islamabad police chief Asghar Gardizi said 'initial investigations
indicate that a suicide bomber detonated the explosives planted in the car.'
The blast was so powerful that it propelled the car's engine more than
300 feet from the blast site, and left a crater one metre deep and two
metres wide near the embassy gate.
'After the explosion I rushed to the main exit and there were pieces of
broken glass, metal, wood and blood. There was a security guard lying in
a pool of blood,' UNDP employee Munawar Fiazs said.
The cartoons of Mohammed published in Danish and Norwegian newspapers in
late 2005 sparked violent riots in early 2006 in several Muslim nations
including Pakistan, where a dozen people were shot dead by the police.
The newspapers reprinted the caricatures on February 13 to defend their
freedom of speech after a plot to murder the cartoon's artist was
uncovered. The publication triggered renewed nationwide protests.
Amid threats from Islamic extremists, the Danish embassy had downgraded
the mission and re-located its diplomatic staff in recent months.
The Norwegian embassy, located a few hundred metres from the Danish
mission, was closed down immediately after the incident.
The Norwegian ambassador to Pakistan told NRK TV that no Norwegians
witnessed the bombing and no Norwegian nationals had been injured in the
attack.
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur