PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Militants attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in the Pakistani city of Peshawar with guns and a truck bomb on Tuesday, killing five people including a U.N. worker, authorities said.
Taliban militants have stepped up bomb attacks since the military launched an offensive in April in the former tourist valley of Swat and neighboring districts northwest of the capital.
Militants shot their way through a security post at the gate of the Pearl Continental Hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar and a suspected suicide bomber set off the truck-bomb in front of the lobby, security officials said.
"I was in the Chinese restaurant when we heard firing and then a blast. It was totally dark and people started shouting and running," hotel waiter Ali Khan told Reuters.
Top city administrator Sahibzada Anis said five people had been killed, among them a U.N. refugee agency worker. Police said the man was Serbian.
About 70 people were wounded among them a German woman working for the U.N. children’s fund. A British man and a Nigerian man were also wounded, Anis said.
The United Nations is heavily involved in providing relief for more than 2.5 million people displaced by the fighting in Swat and elsewhere in the northwest.
About a dozen U.N. staff were staying at the hotel and some had been wounded but there had been no report of any fatality, a U.N. official said.
The hotel’s windows were shattered and dozens of cars were destroyed. Police said the bomb contained 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives, a similar size to a suicide truck bomb at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September that killed 55 people.
There was no claim of responsibility for the latest attack but the Taliban have warned of retaliatory action over the offensive in Swat.
The United States, which needs sustained Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and cut off militant support for the Afghan Taliban, has been heartened by the resolve the government and military are showing in the Swat offensive. (Continue Reading at REUTERS)
Today when I read the news about another dreadful act of terrorism in Pakistan, for a few seconds I left myself become overcome by apocalyptic feelings. But a tragedy such as this is a test of our hope and resilience. Terrorists are just like the big bad bully in your school yard, who try to make your life miserable until you give in. But that is no longer an option. The tides are finally showing some indication of change and this is no time to back off. Things have always gotten far worse before they have shown any signs of improvement.
Pakistan is finally fighting and making progress. The country’s military and hundreds of villagers have formed an anti-Taliban militia and are fighting to eradicate the militants from their region of northwestern Pakistan. Intent Voice Tania Kazi in her latest blog It’s About Time, Pakistan, is hopeful for the positive change in Pakistan:
Pakistan is fighting the world’s war against Islamic extremism in its own backyard. Granted, it was Pakistan’s own insouciance aided by America’s need of the day, that has led to the empowerment of this behemoth, however, government statistics today claim 1,300 militants dead and counting. The long awaited State level involvement to control the impetus of the Taliban has finally materialized, as we all await the outcome.
…Ambassador Haroon elucidated on more than one occasion that this is not a battle with an immediate end in sight. He emphasized how the Taliban do not fight to finish, but in fact feed off the fighting itself. So to vanquish such an enemy is going to require serious commitment from the International Community and resilience from the people on the ground.
… The undesirable notion that the army could fail is not even considered as a remotely passing thought. Pakistani people have no choice but to place all their hopes in an Army they have been wont to view suspiciously in the past, but are nonetheless eager to have the opportunity to finally look up to now. This in itself is a great milestone for a country that has never fully succeeded in winning, let alone restoring the faith of its own masses.(Continue reading It’s About Time, Pakistan)
President Obama in his historic speech in Cairo last week tried to reiterate that it is not about us and them, our pain is theirs and theirs is ours. With Globalization and technology where it is right now, it is not longer acceptable to bury our heads in the sand and think that the rest of the world and threats don’t exist. Fighting Terrorism is one of our generation’s great burdens and we all need to partake in the fight. The International community needs to stand tall next to Pakistan in its time of need and support its fight.
All I can say is stay strong Pakistan.
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