Five remote-controlled bombs of a type never used in Pakistan before were exploded in the weekend assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said yesterday.
The five "explosive devices" detonated almost simultaneously, blowing up a bridge seconds after General Musharraf's motorcade passed over it on Sunday evening, he said.
The bombs were "highly sophisticated," Rashid said.
"This type of device was never used in the country in the past," he said.
Five to six people have been questioned over the attack, which caused no injuries, but no arrests have been made, the minister said.
Those who planted the bombs were the "most expert people," he said.
The blasts ripped off a heavy layer of concrete on the bridge, exposing iron bars that were badly twisted by the impact.
Appearing on state television afterwards, Musharraf blamed the attack on Islamic extremists whom he said were trying to kill him.
"It was certainly a terrorist act and certainly it was me who was targeted," said Musharraf, who is a key ally in the US war on terror.
Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters on Monday a comprehensive inquiry was under way.
"We will get to the bottom of it, and try to determine who was responsible, what was the motivation," he said.
Security has been stepped up nationwide following the blasts.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Musharraf escaped a similar attack in the southern port city of Karachi in April last year when Islamic extremists attempted to blow up a van as his motorcade passed.
Three of the would-be assassins were convicted in October of trying to kill the president and jailed for 10 years.
Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999, has infuriated Islamic hardliners by backing the US-led campaign that ousted the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan two years ago.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not