By Michael E. Sanchez
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan– A suicide bomber garbed in military uniform attacked the UN World Programme offices in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city, killing at least five people and injuring five others, according to police and U.N. officials.The interior minister of Pakistan stated that an investigation had begun into security lapses after guards had allowed the suicide bomber into the compound to go to the bathroom.
Taliban militants on Tuesday, claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing, saying that international relief work in Pakistan was not in “the interest of Muslims”. Revenge was promised by the Pakistani Taliban for the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone strike in August and has been behind a series of recent attacks, including an attack last week, where at least 16 people died in two suicide car bomb attacks in north-western Pakistan.
The five confirmed dead worked for the WFP and the injured were hospitalized, some of them with critical injuries. Of the dead four were Pakistani: Abid Rehman, a senior finance assistant; Gulrukh Tahir, a receptionist; Farzana Barkat, an office assistant; and Mohammed Wahab, a finance assistant. The fifth was Botan Ahmed Ali al-Hayawi, an Iraqi information and communication technology officer.
“All of the victims were humanitarian heroes working on the front lines of hunger in a country where WFP food assistance is providing a lifeline to millions,” the agency’s executive director, Josette Sheeran, said in a statement. “This is a tragedy—not just for WFP—but for the whole humanitarian community and for the hungry.”
This was an unwanted reminder that their capital remains vulnerable to attack, and is further proof that militants can cause harm in the face of heightened security precautions and ongoing army operations.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attack would not “slacken the resolve” of Pakistan’s efforts in battling the Taliban. He said: “The operations that we carried out against them in Swat, North Waziristan and South Waziristan have broken their back. They are like a wounded snake.”
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the blast, stating, “Pakistan will not be deterred in its efforts to fight extremism and terrorism and will continue its quest to bring peace by eliminating the terrorists.”
For more information, please see:
BBC News- Suicide Bomb hits UN in Pakistan– 5 October 2009
ABC News- Bomb rips through UN Office, 4 dead– 5 October 2009
Washington Post- Bomb Blast Hits U.N. Agency in Islamabad– 6 October 2009
Associated Post- AP Top News at 10:58 a.m. -6 October 2009
