Militants attack Pakistani hotel; 7 dead, more missing

Bomb blast in Pakistan
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By Robert Birsel
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Rescuers scoured the wreckage of Peshawar's top hotel for victims on Wednesday after a suicide bomb killed at least seven people, the latest militant attack in retaliation for a Pakistani army offensive in the Swat valley.
The resolve shown by the Pakistani government and military in Swat has heartened U.S. officials, concerned their nuclear-armed ally could slide into chaos unless the Taliban's creeping advance toward Islamabad was stopped.
A U.N. official said two U.N. workers, a Russian man and Philippine woman, were among those killed in the Tuesday night assault on the Pearl Continental, a hotel popular with VIPs and foreigners visiting the capital of North West Frontier Province.
Taliban militants have stepped up attacks in cities since the army launched a campaign in April to clear Islamist fighters from a stronghold in Swat and other parts of northwest Pakistan.
"We have the death toll of seven people killed in the blast including four whose bodies were recovered today," said city police chief Sifwat Ghayyur, the head of the investigation.
The toll excludes dead militants and people still missing in the ruined hotel. The force of the blast blew out all its windows, and caused several concrete walls and a section of floors to collapse on the hotel's front side.
Senior police official Abdul Gafoor Afridi said 64 people were wounded. The hotel manager was among those missing.
Militants had shot their way into the hotel forecourt and exploded a truck bomb in front of the lobby, evoking nightmarish memories of the attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad last September that killed 55 people.
News channels ran closed circuit television camera footage from the checkpoint at the hotel entrance on the main road.
It showed a cyclist brushing aside a security guard, who then returned to his cabin. As the cyclist pedaled through, a retractable metal barrier in the driveway was lowered, and a saloon car pulled into the entrance.
There appeared to be shots fired, before the car sped over the lowered barrier toward the hotel, swiftly followed by a small truck. Another guard ran for cover as the shots were fired.
Police said the bomb contained 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives, a similar size to the bomb at the Marriott.
The mangled truck used in the attack could be seen several feet away from the crater caused by the explosion.
There was no claim of responsibility, but the Taliban have warned of retaliation because of the Swat offensive, and there has been a new trend in militant tactics toward using gunmen in support of a suicide bomber.
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Source: Reuters