Click to play videoNew Delhi: Pakistan government has announced it would reward Rs 1 crore to whoever provides information about a powerful blast outside a five-star hotel in the heart of Islamabad, which killed at least 60 and injured hundreds on Saturday.
A major portion of the heavily-guarded Marriott Hotel was gutted after a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with about 1000 kg of explosives straight into the first checkpoint of the hotel. The explosion left a 20-foot-deep crater at the entrance.
In a televised national address, newly elected Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari vowed to carry forward the fight against terror.
“I promise you that such terror attacks will not break our determination. We will protect and rid Pakistan from this menace,” he said.
Pakistan's Information Minister Sherry Rehman too has strongly condemned the blast at the Marriott Hotel.
“We do not just condemn this attack but we stand firm in our resolve. We are committed to fighting and rooting out extremism and terrorism in all its colours and extents from the heartlands and soil of Pakistan. If anyone thinks that they can challenge the government or the state by such attacks they are firmly and sadly mistaken,” he said.
Initial reports indicate that a terror outfit called Tehreek-e-Taliban carried out the attack, which is being dubbed as the worst in Pakistan’s history.
Those injured include many foreign nationals staying at the hotel. Police sources said the dead include three South Koreans, two Saudis and one American.
The attack appears to have been carried out in retaliation to Zaradari’s recent comments against terrorism.
Zardari spoke strongly about dealing with terrorism in his first address to a joint of session of Pakistan parliament, pledging that Pakistan would not tolerate any infringement of its territory in the name of the fight against terrorists.
Zardari is close to the United States and had earlier promised to maintain nuclear-armed Pakistan's commitment to the US-led "war on terrorism", even though it is deeply unpopular.
Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in all government hospitals in Islamabad nd additional police personnel have been deployed around the Marriot Hotel.
This is the second time Hotel Marriot has been targeted by terrorists. The last time was on January 26, 2007 when the Indian High Commissioner was to host a Republic Day reception there.
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