 The suicide attack on former premier Benazir Bhutto that killed 136 people may have been the work of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, AP quoted authorities as saying on Friday, as forensic experts studied the severed head of the alleged bomber to try to determine his identity.
"Dr. Quincy! What do you make of this?"
"Looks like it might be an elbow..." |
A provincial government official had cited intelligence reports that three suicide bombers linked to pro-Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud were in Karachi. MehsudÂ’s spokesman could not be reached for comment, but an alleged associate of the militant commander, Isa Khan, denied Taliban involvement.
| "Wudn't us. We said we wuz gonna, but we din't." |
The attack bore the hallmarks of militants linked to Mehsud and Al Qaeda, according to Home Secretary Ghulam Mohtarem. He suggested that BhuttoÂ’s camp had not taken the need for security seriously despite warnings.
| They were moving her in an armored shipping container. That sounds like they took the security seriously. |
Nobody from the thousands of people, including the PPP security force and 9,000 policemen, was able to recognise the bomber from his head.
"Faith! It looks like Murphy!"
"No, Pat! It's a close resemblence, I'll grant ye, but Murphy's much taller!" |
The bomber had thrown a grenade to distract security personnel and ran towards BhuttoÂ’s bulletproof truck, said Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqui. The bomber was wearing a jacket loaded with at least 15kg of explosives as well as shrapnel, he added. An injured policeman said that he had seen a suspicious man carrying a child, who seemed dead, towards Bhutto, and that he suspected the bomb might have been fitted inside the childÂ’s corpse.
| Ummm... Right. Hadn't heard that one before. I'm not sure how inconspicuous he'd be, carrying a dead kid. |
Reward: The Sindh government has announced a Rs 5 million reward for anyone who helps in the identification of the perpetrators, Online reported. |