Media outlets report that an explosion has killed 5 people and wounded 25 at the Pearl-Continental Hotel in Peshawar. According to GEO News, the injured included mostly workers at the hotel, although BBC News cited an unconfirmed report that said foreign guests are also among those hurt by the bombing. AAJ Television reported, “Government investigator Sahibzada Anees said officials were trying to establish whether a device had been planted or it was a suicide attack. Television channels quoted witnesses as saying it was a gun and bomb attack.” A later report by CNN confirmed that this was a car bombing. The bomb, the news agency reported, had to get through the hotel gate and a security checkpoint. The bomb went off right at the entrance.
According to CNN’s correspondent Reza Sayah, “What stands out is that this is a huge civilian target and this is in the heart of Peshawar.” He framed this attack in light of the bombing of Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel in September 2008. Both hotels, noted the news agency, are owned by Sadruddin Hashwani’s Hashoo Group.
UPDATE 1358 [EST]: CNN’s Reza Sayah says the official death toll is now 11, with the injured now numbering in the 50’s. According to him and other news agencies, the PC Hotel was a “favored destination for foreigners,” and CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, who has stayed at the hotel, said it is is next door to a police station and near a major army barracks. According to Sayah though, US officials said no Americans who had registered with the embassy were staying at the hotel, [this does not mean there were no Americans at the PC, just that none who had registered were there]. I hope the news focuses also on the Pakistani victims of this attack. It seems there were many hotel workers killed, much like the Marriott bombing in Islamabad.
UPDATE 1430 [EST]: BBC News cited an eyewitness, Fazle Mubeen, who said two vehicles had been involved in the incident. “Policeman told me they had opened fire on two vehicles. Two men were killed in the first car. Then the second vehicle entered the premises and the blast happened.” Following the Marriott blast, Fidayeen-e-Islam, a little-known Pakistani militant group, told the BBC it had carried out the attack with the aim of stopping US interference in Pakistan. However, it is extremely common for unknown militant groups to claim responsibility for large-scale attacks in order to gain notoriety, even if they didn’t commit the attack. We’ll probably hear several claims of responsibility before pinpointing exactly who perpetrated the bombing.
UPDATE 1445 [EST]: Dawn News correspondent is reporting that this bombing was “not unexpected.” According to him, there had been intelligence reports that explosives had entered the city and Peshawar had put on high alert, with extra security at entrance points from the tribal belt. Dawn reported that 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the PC Hotel bombing.
UPDATE 1540 [EST]: CNN reports that officials are desperately searching for casualties. This is the seventh attack to occur in Peshawar in a month, media outlets report. The blast left a large crater, according to an Associated Press journalist, and TV footage suggests part of the hotel was badly damaged. CNN’s Reza Sayah said that government officials are saying it was a suicide bomber. Police told CNN that three men in a pickup truck shot at guards, drove in through the gates, and detonated the bomb somewhere in the parking lot. GEO News is reporting that most of the injured were hotel workers, and CNN cited one report that indicated a United Nations worker was among the dead.
Dawn News interviewed the Daily Times’ Ejaz Haider who commented on the security situation, noting the Pakistani military needs to “erode Pakistan’s insurgency from the inside,” and attack the Pakistan Taliban’s “center of gravity” – located in South Waziristan. He advocated the killing and capture of high-profile militants in order to sway the offensive further in the military’s favor.
UPDATE [1726 EST]: According to BBC News, “The attack killed a Serbian UN refugee agency worker and the injured include a British man and a German national…At least a dozen UN employees were staying at the hotel at the time of the explosion.” Most of the casualties of the attack were therefore Pakistanis, specifically those who worked at the hotel.
UPDATE 2311 [EST]: GEO News reports that the death toll has gone up to 12 people killed, although other news agencies still put the number at 11. Dawn quoted the Capital City Police Chief who said, “The assailants first killed the security guards on the main gate to lower the electronic barrier and then went inside the main parking lot, firing indiscriminately. A mini-truck laden with explosives then entered the hotel premises and exploded in the main parking lot close to the main building.” The Financial Times spoke to a senior security official in Peshawar who said,”We had intelligence reports suggesting that Baitullah Mehsud was planning such an attack. He is top of our list of suspects,” [the official also stated that the likely perpetrators were militants loyal to Mehsud].
Here’s also an interesting link to the Lede blog at the NY Times, which reported the United States had been planning to buy the hotel to expand its diplomatic presence in Peshawar – not sure what I make of that story.
UPDATE [TUES]: The NY Times now reports that the death toll from Tuesday’s bombing has now reached 16. The owner of the PC hotel [and the Marriott in Islamabad] Sadruddin Hashwani told news agencies that the government should have provided better security, and he pledged to reopen the hotel in two months. Two foreign United Nations workers were among those killed. The hotel was housing other UN workers, many of whom were there for the IDP relief efforts in the region.
Below is a good analysis and back-and-forth between CNN’s Nic Robertson and Richard Quest.
I really dont know which direction the country is heading in..sad sad!
I would say that it is heading towards the right direction. A backlash was expected because of the military offensive in Swat, Dir etc areas, but having said that Pakistan is really lucky that the backlash is not as huge as expected. The intelligence agencies, Pak Army and police are really doing their work to curtail such incidents. Hats off to them.
Pakistan Zindabad……. Pakistan Paindabad!!!
While the blast was not “unexpected,” the fact that the state still couldn’t prevent this suicide bombing despite intelligence reports that explosives had entered Peshawar is really really scary and upsetting.
Arsi,
What else you want? there is blast everyday..what direction are you looking at….our country has become Pain(in the arse)dabad..how big a backlash were you expecting….I hate to say Pakistan has now become a land of sop many Arsis or Arses
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Any statements from the Hashwanis?
Nope, not yet. I’ll update once Sadru Hashwani speaks to the press.
Thanks!
- Meiwah R.
thanks for posting this Kalsoom. am really sleepy at the moment, so havent read it all, but can see it’s very comprehensive. knowing you, the post will be (is) brilliant. i have forwarded this link to lots of people. shall be reading this first thing tomorrow morning.
Thanks sos,
It’s def long but sadly not a lot of analysis yet! I was just trying to piece info together from various sources as the story developed since the attack. Will try and put my own thoughts together for tomorrow. Thanks so much for passing it along!
Yet another attack, and yet more people killed.
The way we keep facing such attacks, condone it everytime, and then go on with our lives in the subcontinent is criminal. We have seen this happening in India, and we are seeing the same thing happening in Pakistan. While this may be a breaking news for a few hours , followed by the investigations becoming the breaking news for the next 2 days, the life of an ordinary person on the street becomes painful.
There would be perprators of this attack-within the establishment(who would use this to their own advantage), religious(??) leaders in taliban, and local support which would have been brainwashed in the fight for religion, fight against infidels…..and yet no-one would blink except for the people who would right now be crying hoarse for their near and dear ones.
Kulsoom, you have been opposing the fundamentalist elements within the society, there are people in the comments section who have been praising the army for their operations in SWAt and elsewhere, but the mooter question is why were these areas allowed to go under taliban control at the first place, where was the need to have a retribution from them, since these elements should have been crushed at the outset only. But the irony, that we have in the subcontinent is that our leaders, do not act…..they could only react. Not sure if the army operation is unanimous or done to show off to the US, and retreaded once the pressure off the US ceases. Because if it is, then such retributive acts would kkeep happening.
I wish for peace, i wish for a sub continent where we could just go about our work without worrying if there is a bomb out there- either hindu bomb or islamic bomb, lying out there waiting to explode in my face. I would rather see a fountain of pure water at every street corner, and not a barrage of bullets.
Kash, aisa ho!!!
*** this shit. I hate them. Every last one of them. Just yesterday I was explaining to someone that Pakistan ain’t that bad and people still live here and now this…
good effort Kalsoom, we all know where to go when we need consolidated info on anything …
Thanks Tazeen
[...] They want to save the IDPs and the poor of Pakistan. Do they deserve this? Read and comment on CHUP. Kals gives awesome coverage to [...]
//According to him, there had been intelligence reports that explosives had entered the city//
We have such intelligence reports ready to talk of – but always after the catastrophe. Strange!
Attack on Srilankan team in Lahore and various other incidents where Government had all Intelligence reports prior to incident – but they failed to counter it.
There always is a Red Alert in the city/town after the bomb blast – but there’s no up-to-the-level security before blast.
Zeus,
I think you touch on a really important point about action versus reaction, a point also echoed by Absar. While there were alleged intel reports prior to the blast and the city was on high alert, why did the increased security still not prevent this bombing?
Now again, consider this event: Punjab Police Inspector General (IG) Tariq Saleem Dogar said that the security was provided to Jamia Naeemia principal Dr Sarfraz Naeemi; however, the bomber succeeded in blowing himself up — GEO News.
Sigh! Our fallible security system — equivalent to zilch when it can’t prevent from attacks.
wow – thats pretty damned bad!
I’m impressed at the updates.
very thorough, very current.
Interesting that one week after it leaked that the building was under consideration to be purchased for a U.S. consulate, it was targeted.
I have my reservations about the Lede blog report insinuation that THAT is why the PC Hotel was targeted. First of all, I seriously doubt people knew about that alleged talks to include the PC in the increased U.S. diplomatic presence in Peshawar. I think the bombing had more to do with the Tehreek-e-Taliban’s threat that they would be bombing ALL of Pakistan’s major cities. The PC Hotel was a target because it would garner a tremendous amount of press attention – for terrorists, that is one thing they strive for – news headlines. Second of all, the hotel was where a lot of foreign officials and workers were staying while working in the IDP camps and for relief.
Yes. It was probably on their list well before, being the only 5-star in the city. And the fact that many U.S. publications printed that bit about it being the future home of the U.S. consulate makes it a double whammy for the Taliban militants–or at the very least easier for them to justify it to their base.
[...] – Changing Up Pakistan brings you updates of the blast in the Pearl-Continental Hotel in Peshawar. Cancel this [...]
The Lede blog is correct about the negotiations to purchase it. In fact, it was already being used in part by the US Consulate as they were expanding their operations and outreach. This is the hotel that the US Military recommends to use in Pesh. Whether or not this was well known is unclear. But it appears that they now think that the security lapses may have been due to an employee who worked there. Additionally, there were some reports indicating that US Marines had been offloading items, news of which would have traveled fast. And Reimas is right — it’s a symbolic target as a 5 star hotel, but it’s also a functional target with the foreigner use by the UN and US.
Events like these are seriously starting to sicken me. I honestly think its about time that Zardari along with his taliban buddies need to be pushed out the exit and back into afghanistan or india and fence both borders cause thats the only way we can keep these leaches out of our great country.
That reminds me of a joke someone made on twitter re: a fence between Pakistan and Afghanistan – that an electric fence would be a complete failure given the amount of load shedding Pakistan faces each day!
Hi Kalsoom,
I was recommended this link for some refreshingly frank & crystal clear analysis. Guess the recommendation was spot on. I find ur ‘call spade a spade’ attitude remarkably fresh, akin to Mr.Kamran Shafi’s articles in Dawn.
Its a crying shame things have come to such a pass in Pakistan. I still remember the open & liberal Pakistani society of the pre Zia era, that was when India hadn’t opened up. We Indians used to look longingly at the prosperous & sublime Pakistani lifestyle.
Fundamentalism of any hue can cripple progress & that’s the stark truth. For everyone’s sake, I hope the merchants of death are vanquished & fast.
Thanks so much sashi! My dad often talks about the Pakistan of his youth and how different it was to how I grew up. It’s obviously a lot worse now then when even I was a teenager. I am really praying for a light at the end of the tunnel.
[...] Lakhani discusses the attack in Changing Up Pakistan: US officials said no Americans who had registered with the embassy were staying at the hotel, [this [...]
I am greatly surprised again with the situation going on in peshawar, What we think that the terrorism is over by doing operation in SWAT, no i don’t think so until the nation become unite & don’t allow outsider to do like this.
The case in picture is same like happen in marriot Islamabad.
As Kalsoom said ” I am really praying for a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Hoping for best
salam to all,
we are not terriosts but few are around us.let everyone leave to live . we are tired from this bluddy war.what is our mistake. just that we are muslims ?.
due to this we are near to death, why we are blamed, is there no one who can hear our cry…………………………..?
thanks pakistan zindabad
My God, another suicide bomb blast in peshawar . What the hell is wrong with this Lovely country . Of course its not talibans but certain outer agencies and hands are also included in it. May God bless this country with his blessings…….!
very sad I am really sad for this I hope Pakistan do a come back to its normal position.
I really can’t see it like this because it is a Muslime Country.
Allah Will never forgive those people who ever are doing these all
I dont think so situation can come back to normal in pakistan unless we youth may not start promoting honest peoples in politics.
[...] the campaign against NATO convoys in Khyber and Peshawar, and claimed responsibility for the June 9 bombing of the Peshawar Pearl-Continental [...]
the Pakistanis are saying it was blackwater.