By Vincent Van Ross

About 60 people are reported dead and over a hundred injured in the biggest ever terror attack on Islamabad. A suicide bomber detonated himself and rammed a truck loaded with 1,000 kilograms of explosives into the main gates of the most prestigious hotel in Islamabad, the Mariott Hotel in spite of a high alert in the area.

The security guards posted at the gate tried to stop the suicide bomber as sniffer dogs grew suspicious about the cargo of the truck. All the guards posted at the gate died in the blast. Some people are still trapped in the hotel as the façade of the hotel has collasped blocking rescue operations.

The authorities say that there was threat of a terror attack on the Parliament or in its vicinity in the last 48 hours following which security was beefed up and even the army was deployed. The suicide bomber apparently crossed three security rings before getting to the hotel. Probably, the terrorist knew that the truck may not reach their target. Perhaps, that is why there was such a heavy cargo of explosives in the truck.

The explosion created a 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep crater where the truck blew up and the splinters flying from the bomb explosion engulfed the entire hotel in fire threatening the structural integrity of the hotel. The explosion has also damaged the adjacent building, the PTV office and a building across the street and many vehicles parked in the hotel. The Indian High Commision is safe and there are no Indians among the casualties.

Mariott Hotel is located in a high security zone near Pakistan’s Parliament, the Prime Minister’s residence, the President’s palace, the Indian High Commision as also the PTV offices. This is the most favoured hotel patronized by diplomats, senior journalists, and foreign dignitaries, businessmen and tourists. The hotel houses some of the best restaurants in town.

That this has happened after the Pakistani president, Asif Zardari, delivered a fiery speech declaring that the nation would not tolerate terror attacks and expressed the hope that Pakistan would be able to improve relations with Afghanistan and India in the time to come, underlines the fact that the terrorists can strike whenever they please and more important wherever they please. This places a big question mark on the security situation in the country. The security is said to have been lax because of ramzan when the terrorists do not attack usually.

In the last two years, Islamabad has seen an increasing number of serial blasts. It is not clear whether this is a retaliation to the pounding of the North West Frontier Province by the Pakistani defence forces using helicopter gunships? Or, is this an attempt to derail the elected government? Or, is this a rejection of the Pakistan governments efforts to improve its relations with Afghanistan and India? Or, was it an attack directed at the US marines staying the hotel? Or, is it a retaliation by the Baluchs, the Taliban or the Al Qaeda activists. Nobody knows that for sure as of now. However, Tarik-e-Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Apart from the huge loss to the hotel and the political fallout, this blast is likely to hit the Pakistani economy as well. One message this blast has sent out is that Pakistan is no longer safe. The Australian cricket team must be thanking its lucky stars because their players would most likely have stayed in the Mariott Hotel.

The very people who are behind the blasts in India may well be the people behind the blasts in Pakistan. Last Saturday it was the Indian capital—Delhi. This Saturday, it is the Pakistani capital—Islamabad. This clearly shows that terror knows no religion. And, it knows no region. But, whether it was in India or Pakistan, the target for the both blasts was clearly the capital.