Two Pakistani women and an Iraqi national were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber struck inside a heavily fortified UN office in the heart of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, police officials said.
The explosion inside the offices of the World Food Programme (WFP) comes after Taliban rebels vowed to avenge the death of their leader Baitullah Mehsud, killed in a US missile strike in August.
At least five people were also injured in the blast, with scenes of confusion around the walled compound and office in central Islamabad, where smoke billowed out and ambulances rushed to the scene.
“It was a suicide blast,” said Bani Amin, deputy inspector general of police operations, adding that the bomber managed to enter the WFP office and detonate about 8kg of explosives. “Three people were killed, two of them are women and one is a foreigner. All the five injured are Pakistanis.”
“We have recovered legs and the skull of the suicide bomber. We are investigating how he managed to enter inside the building. There are scanners, there are cameras and strict security arrangements,” the police official said.
Amin later added that the foreign victim was an Iraqi national.
A local UN staff member at the scene said he saw one severed leg in the reception, while a reporter outside the compound said he saw smoke coming out from behind the compound wall.
Another security official at the scene who asked not to be named said that up to nine people had been injured: “Among them four to five are foreigners.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s office issued a statement saying he “strongly condemned” the blast and had ordered an inquiry.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Taliban militants holed up in the northwest tribal belt have been blamed for a string of attacks and suicide blasts that have killed more than 2,100 people in the last two years.
Three bomb blasts in the past two-and-a-half weeks in the northwest have killed 28 people, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for one of the blasts and threatening to unleash bigger assaults.
There was a lull in attacks after Baitullah Mehsud’s death in an Aug. 5 US drone strike, but analysts had warned that the new Taliban leadership would likely be keen to show their strength with fresh, dramatic strikes.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was