The Hindu : 11 killed in car bomb attack near U.S. consulate in Karachi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 15, 2002

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11 killed in car bomb attack near U.S. consulate in Karachi

Policemen removing a body from a car destroyed in an explosion in front of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Friday .— Reuters

KARACHI JUNE 14. A suicide driver slammed his explosives-packed vehicle into a concrete barrier in front of the U.S. consulate on Friday, triggering a huge explosion that killed 11 persons and injured 45.

No Americans were among the dead, but a U.S. Marine guard was injured when he was hit by flying debris. Mark Wentworth, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Islamabad, said five Pakistani consulate employees suffered minor injuries.

Tight security measures, including concrete barriers around a 10-foot concrete wall, probably prevented more casualties inside the heavily guarded compound.

However, the attack — the fourth against foreigners in Pakistan since January — prompted the U.S. Government, which is on the frontline in the war against the Al-Qaeda, to consider scaling back its diplomatic staff in this country.

Meanwhile, Al-Qanoon, an organisation hitherto unknown, has claimed responsibility for the attack. It hand-delivered photocopies of its statement to the media. The message included a warning of further attacks.

In Washington, a State Department official said the American Center in Islamabad and consular offices in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar closed early on Friday and a decision would be made over the weekend whether to reopen them on Monday. Police said the driver clipped a police guard post at the southern end of the consulate grounds at 11:08 a.m. before slamming into one of the 3-foot high concrete security barriers around the perimeter wall.

The vehicle exploded on impact, disintegrating the barrier, collapsing part of the concrete wall around the compound and hurling debris 1 km away. The blast incinerated nearly 20 cars.

The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, told CNN he was unsure if the consulate was the target. ``We are investigating all angles."

The Information Minister, Nisar Memon, said the attack appeared to be the handiwork of forces which were out to prove that the country was the epicentre of terrorism. — AP, Reuters, AFP

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