Pakistani Taliban Suspected In Hotel Blast

Car Bomb Attack On Luxury Hotel In Peshawar Follows Familiar Pattern In Vicious Cycle Of Payback

(CBS/AP)  Last Updated 6:50 a.m. EDT

Investigators searched a wrecked luxury hotel in northwestern Pakistan for evidence Wednesday after a bold suicide bombing killed 11 people, including aid workers, in what the U.N. condemned as a "heinous terrorist attack."

Elsewhere in the volatile region, security forces killed 70 suspected militants in an area close to two major Taliban tribal strongholds, intelligence officials told The Associated Press.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack on the Peshawar Pearl Continental, but Taliban militants have been bombing urban targets in retaliation for the Pakistani army's campaign against them in the rugged region along the border with Afghanistan, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.

A senior security official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari on Tuesday that authorities suspect Taliban militants loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, a notorious militant leader fighting in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, of being behind the attack.

At least three suicide attackers shot their way past guards and set off the explosion late Tuesday outside the hotel, a favorite spot for foreigners and well-off Pakistanis and a site that the U.S. was considering for its consulate.

The attack reduced a section of the hotel to concrete rubble and twisted steel and left a huge crater in a parking lot. Senior police official Safwat Ghayur said counterterrorism experts, police and intelligence agents were combing the rubble for clues Wednesday.

The Pearl Continental, affectionately called the "PC" by Pakistanis, is the ritziest hotel in the rugged frontier city of 2.2 million. Relatively well-guarded and set back from the main road, it is near government buildings and overlooks a golf course and a historic fort.

Security camera video shows the attackers in two vehicles, a white sedan and a small truck. The vehicles pull up to a guard post outside the hotel, with the car in front.

A puff of smoke then appears near the car window, and a guard standing at the post collapses, apparently shot. The vehicles then move into the hotel compound. A few seconds later, a flash and eruption of dust are visible, indicating a blast.

The truck was carrying more than half a ton of explosives, senior police officer Shafqatullah Malik estimated.

The chaotic scene echoed a bombing last year at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel that killed more than 50 people. Both hotels were favored places for foreigners and elite Pakistanis to stay and socialize, making them high-profile targets for militants despite tight security.

Last month, at least 35 people were killed and nearly 300 injured in Lahore, the country’s second largest city, when two men drove a van packed with explosives to the main office of the Pakistan's intelligence agency. Officials suspected a close link between the Lahore bombers and Mehsud, also, reported Bokhari.

In Washington, two senior U.S. officials said the State Department had been in negotiations with the hotel's owners to either purchase or sign a long-term lease for the facility to house a new American consulate in Peshawar. The officials said they were not aware of any sign that U.S. interest in the compound had played a role in its being targeted.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were not public and had not been completed. They said no immediate decision had been made on whether to go ahead with plans to base the consulate on the hotel grounds.

A member of the family that owns the Peshawar hotel and the Marriott in Islamabad said he was not aware of any negotiations with the U.S. but that the Pearl Continental would be rebuilt.

"The process has already started," Murtaza Hashwani said. "They have started clearing the debris, and the engineering people are looking at the building. You cannot let these people defeat you."

The exact death toll remained elusive Wednesday.

North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told The Associated Press early Wednesday that officials reported 11 fatalities. Other police and government officials could confirm only five dead.

The three attackers also died, said an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. U.N. spokeswoman Amena Kamaal said three bodies pulled from the rubble Wednesday were two Pakistani government staffers whose work was funded by the U.N.'s population agency, along with their driver.

The U.N. also identified staff members among the dead.

One was Aleksandar Vorkapic, 44, from Belgrade, Serbia. Also killed was UNICEF staffer Perseveranda So, 52, from the Philippines, who was working on educational programs for girls, the children's agency said.

Peshawar district coordination officer Sahibzada Anis said the blast wounded three others working for the U.N. agency - a Briton, a Somali and a German.

U.N. officials declined to comment Wednesday on whether they might scale back their programs in Pakistan, but a senior government official told Bokhari the U.N. had informed Islamabad it would put some of its humanitarian operations "practically on hold," until a complete security review is conducted.

Such a move could have significant consequences because of a refugee crisis sparked by the military offensive in Swat.

More than 2 million people have been displaced by fighting in the valley. Many are staying in sweltering relief camps.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani military took action in another nearby region, Bannu, after tribal elders there failed to move against militants in their midst who allegedly helped kidnap more than 100 students from a boys' school who were later freed.

Two intelligence officials said troops, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, attacked the Jani Khel section of Bannu, leaving some 70 militants dead. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Bannu is near both South and North Waziristan, two major strongholds for al Qaeda and the Taliban. South Waziristan in particular is expected to be the site of an offensive after Swat, though the military has not confirmed any plans.

Army officials could not immediately be reached to discuss the Bannu operation Wednesday.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday condemned the hotel bombing as a "heinous terrorist attack," U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in New York.

No Americans were reported wounded or killed. The U.S. Embassy has in recent days warned its staff to avoid or limit travel to Peshawar.

Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said Wednesday the U.S. "is steadfast in its support of the government of Pakistan and of its efforts to combat terrorism."

[6591Hou]

If the Satan did not meddle with people's lives, it wouldn't happen. Bombings, let alone suicide bombings, were unheard of in that part of the world until recently in the last few years. There is no need to puppet the govt. to kill and kill more people under the false pretense of 'doing angels' work." Having the local govt. to do the killing for you is akin to invasion and killing. There is no difference. The puppet govt. will do what its master tells it to do-It is that simple.
"You" can invade, occupy, puppet the govt., meddle with people lives, but one thing is proven-you cant control the free will of a man. War isn't a video game for those on the receiving end. Until, "you" understand that, the cycle will continiue... until !!!!!!!! ding dong....ding dong........
Posted by mysteriousjz
===================
So the bombing of the Jordanian wedding party was because of ?

[6591Hou]

Palestinian boy 'hanged for collaboration'

Palestinian police say a 15-year-old boy has been found hanged near the town of Qalqilya in the West Bank. They said several family members had confessed to involvement in the killing, accusing the boy of collaborating with the Israeli army.

Collaboration is viewed as a serious offence in Palestinian society. Suspects are often summarily killed. However, police said it was unlikely that such a young boy would have been recruited as an informer. He has been named in the Palestinian press as Raed Sawalha.

Palestinian police spokesman Adnan Damiri said those responsible for the boy's death would be brought to justice. He said the boy's father, uncle and cousin confessed to the killing, but that police were also investigating other motives for the killing, the Associated Press reported.

[ToolMangler1]

War isn't a video game for those on the receiving end. Until, "you" understand that, the cycle will continiue... until !!!!!!!! ding dong....ding dong........
Posted by mysteriousjz at 11:22 AM : Jun 10, 2009



Dingbat!!! you might live there and have some knowledge but the thing that eludes you is the fact that your area of the world has been doing this same junk for 5000 years. The USA can pull out today and tomorrow you will be seeing the same stuff. If the USA had "never" been formed, the violence in the Mideast would keep on going and blaming someone else for their pain and suffering. There never has been "peace" in the Mid East, just a lull in the killing. There will never be peace in the mideast while a single Jew lives, Your hatred is that deep!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and that is the biggest shame on you, bigger even than the killing) I am not a Jew lover, (or hater) but I can see and hear what is truly going on...

[mysteriousjz]

If the Satan did not meddle with people's lives, it wouldn't happen. Bombings, let alone suicide bombings, were unheard of in that part of the world until recently in the last few years. There is no need to puppet the govt. to kill and kill more people under the false pretense of 'doing angels' work." Having the local govt. to do the killing for you is akin to invasion and killing. There is no difference. The puppet govt. will do what its master tells it to do-It is that simple.

"You" can invade, occupy, puppet the govt., meddle with people lives, but one thing is proven-you cant control the free will of a man.

War isn't a video game for those on the receiving end. Until, "you" understand that, the cycle will continiue... until !!!!!!!! ding dong....ding dong........

[Charlieot2]

There are no luxury hotels in a country America invades.They all become battletorn hideouts.Welcome to the growing list, preshewar up scale luxury revelers.The rich and the mighty should never be safe from bombs,death and mayhem,it should be spread evenly so that all can get a taste of the gunpowder(in the name of peace of coarse)Now Pakistan can take the billions of dollars America gave it to kill it's own people and rebuild.White man says
Posted by jeffpzzzzzz at 7:51 AM : Jun 10, 2009

Hmmm... a little one-sided there aren't you jeff?
I'm guessing that you are under the impression that America has invaded Pakistan...can you cite a couple of independent, unbiased resources to support that supposition?

It also looks like you are saying that noone should be safe from "...bombs, death and mayhem..." That's rather a huge condemnation of all mankind; I would word it that everyone should be safe, including the poor and downtrodden (qualification based on your statement regarding "the rich and the mighty")

Based on your discussion, it would appear that the Pakistanis are a purely mercenary people. I think they would probably disagree with you.

Interestingly, nowhere in your posting did I see a condemnation of the Taliban's actions. If you believe that America is intentionally killing innocent people and should be condemned for doing so, then the same logic should apply to the Taliban. On the other hand, it may be that you believe that it is reasonable to intentionally kill innocents....