A Turkish woman was killed and five Americans were among 11 people wounded in a bomb attack on a restaurant in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Saturday night, police said. The other wounded included a Briton, a Canadian and a Japanese national, and three Pakistanis, according to a list posted at the hospital where the casualties were taken.
Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda inspired Islamist militants since joining the US-led campaign against terrorism after the September 11 attacks on the United States. More than 500 people have been killed this year in violence including suicide bombings.
None of the wounded in Saturday's blast were in critical condition, although one of the Pakistanis had been very seriously hurt, Islamabad's Assistant Commissioner Farasad Ali told Reuters from the hospital. Police Deputy Inspector General Shahid Nadeem Baloch said the victim was a Turkish woman who worked for a relief agency, after television news channels had earlier identified her as an American nurse.
"US embassy personnel were among those wounded," US embassy spokeswoman Kay Mayfield said. Bombers have targeted US diplomats several times in the past. David Foy, a diplomat at the US consulate in Karachi was killed by a suicide car bomber in March 2006.
Early last year a suicide bomber killed a security guard outside Islamabad's Marriott hotel, but attacks on soft targets like restaurants frequented by foreigners would mark a change in the militants' tactics.
DEAFENING BLAST: A witness said the explosion occurred in a garden dining area at the rear of the Luna Caprese restaurant, a well known haunt for expatriates, including diplomats, aid agency workers, and journalists. "It was deafening. We pulled out at least eight people from the wreckage. Most of them were foreigners," Tariq Mahmood, a waiter at the restaurant, told Reuters.
Baloch said the bomb blast had left a crater, and ruled out any possibility it had been a suicide attack. Storeowner Khalid Qureshi raced across the road from a shopping complex opposite the restaurant to help the wounded.
"There were bodies lying everywhere, people were screaming and shouting," Qureshi said. Pakistan has experienced months of political turmoil over opposition to President Pervez Musharraf.
Musharraf's allies were routed in a parliamentary election last month. The campaign was overshadowed by the assassination in December of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The National Assembly will convene on Monday for the first time since the election, and Musharraf is expected to invite the victors to form a coalition government, though it might end up forcing him from power.