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| India-Pakistan |
| Karachi attack 'is a warning' |
| 2002-06-17 |
| A car bomb attack on the US consulate in Karachi was a warning to Washington and its allies in Islamabad to abandon their war against terrorism. The blast killed 12 people including six women and injured more than 50, blew a four-metre hole in the consulate wall and shattered windows within a one-kilometre radius. "Abandon your war on terrorism or we'll blow things up!" It'd make a lot of sense to comply with that demand, by golly. The death toll rose late yesterday after a policeman seriously hurt in the blast died of his injuries, hospital officials said. Although investigators initially believed it was a suicide attack, they now suspect the bomb could have been a remote-controlled device planted in a driving school-owned Toyota Corolla carrying four women. Police believe the blast may have been carried out by the same Al Qaeda-linked militants suspected of launching a May 8 suicide bombing outside the Sheraton hotel here that killed 11 French nationals. Oh, wotta surprise. Witnesses said about 15 to 20 American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents made a second visit to the blast site and spent about two hours collecting objects such as fragments of devastated cars. The agents worked in an area of garden opposite the consulate where most of the wreckage fell and which has been cordoned off since the blast. "They were carrying handfuls of bags with small and big pieces of all kinds of debris, leaving almost no nook and corner of the garden and road unchecked," said a police officer posted at the garden for security. That's why Qazi wants them out. They're quite a bit more thorough than the Paks' Fatty Arbuckle Kopper Squad. Pakistani police have so far not been able to trace any record of the previously unknown group, Al Qanoon (The Law), which has claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, Al Qanoon called for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to resign. Otherwise, the group threatened more attacks, it said in a message to the Pakistani newspaper Umat. And if he does resign, they'll blow things up for some other reason. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |