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Eight Dead in Car Bomb Attack on U.S. Consulate in Karachi
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Earlier
in May, a car bomb killed 11 French nationals working on a
joint Franco-Pakistani submarine project
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KARACHI,
June 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Eight people were killed
in a powerful car bomb attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi Friday,
June 14, that was believed to be the work of a “suicide bomber”,
police said.
A
police source at the scene told AFP that eight bodies had been found.
“Five
bodies are intact and have been sent to hospital, and there are three
more and the body parts are lying in different places,’ the source
said.
“They
are at three different places, virtually ripped apart.”
Officials
at Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital said 26 people injured in the blast had
been admitted for treatment and were in a serious condition.
Police
officers at the scene said the vehicle used in the attack was a small,
high-roofed Suzuki van which had been traveling along the same road
that the consulate is situated on.
The
blast was detonated when it reached the corner of the compound, and
the huge explosion that followed destroyed part of the perimeter wall
of the consulate, but left the main gate intact.
A
deep crater was blasted into the road immediately next to the
perimeter wall and the vehicle exploded into pieces, some of which
were thrown onto the other side of the road and into a park facing the
consulate.
Shock
waves from the car bomb damaged property in a one kilometer
(half-mile) radius of the area, blowing out shop windows and car
windscreens and leaving shards of glass carpeted on the ground.
More
than a dozen cars in the immediate vicinity were badly damaged.
The
U.S. embassy ordered non-essential staff and families to leave
Pakistan shortly after a March 17 grenade attack on a church in the
diplomatic enclave of Islamabad which left five died, including two
Americans.
Earlier
in May, a car bomb attack outside the Sheraton hotel in Karachi killed
11 French nationals and three Pakistanis.
The
11 French nationals killed in a bomb blast Wednesday, May 8, in
Karachi were working on a joint Franco-Pakistani project to build
three Agosta 90B class submarines.
Twenty-two
people were injured, including 11 French nationals. The other
casualties were reported to be Pakistanis.
“Earlier,
an intelligence agency in Pakistan had issued a warning that Indian
Agencies are strongly monitoring French assistance to Pakistan on
Auogusta Submarine project,” Pakistan News Service said at the time.
The
intelligence agency also reported “a possible terrorist activity
could be sponsored by Indian secret agency RAW to malign Pakistan and
create a hurdle in this Pak-French joint venture.”
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