Bomb Blast at Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan | At least 40 dead

At least 40 people were killed on Saturday in a suspected suicide car bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the city’s police chief reported. “A car laden with explosives rammed the gate at the Marriott and so far we have brought out 40 dead bodies, but the number could well be higher,” police chief Asghar Raza Gardazi said.

The hotel was badly damaged and caught fire after the blast, which destroyed dozens of cars outside and shattered windows and damaged buildings hundreds of metres (yards) away.

Hours before the blast President Asif Ali Zardari, making his first address to parliament, several hundred metres to the east of the hotel, said terrorism had to be rooted out.

Police at the scene said 20 bodies had been taken away and people were still trapped inside. A crane was brought in to try to get people out.

Fire began in at least two places in the building and spread to other parts of the 290-room hotel, located at the foot of the Margalla hills in the city centre. There was a large crater in the road by the hotel’s heavy security barriers.

The street was littered with debris and broken branches from roadside trees and acrid smoke drifted in the air.

The blast brought down the ceiling in a banquet room where there were about 200 to 300 people at a meal to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, Imtiaz Gul, a journalist, was among them. “We just ran for cover, I could see a lot of injured people lying around me,” Gul said.

The hotel, popular with foreigners, has been bombed twice before but the Saturday evening blast was the most serious in the Pakistani capital since the country joined the U.S.-led campaign against militancy in late 2001.

Al Qaida-linked militants based in sanctuaries in the Afghan border have launched a bloody campaign of bomb attacks in retaliation for offensives by the security forces.

Zardari, the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is close to the United States and had earlier vowed to maintain nuclear-armed Pakistan’s commitment to the US-led campaign against militancy, even though it is deeply unpopular.

In his address to parliament, he said Pakistan must stop militants from using its territory for attacks on other countries. He also said Pakistan would not tolerate infringement of its territory in the name of the fight against militancy.

Zardari won a presidential election this month to replace firm US ally Pervez Musharraf who stepped down in August under threat of impeachment. Zardari is close to the United States and had earlier vowed to maintain nuclear-armed Pakistan’s commitment to the US-led campaign against militancy, even though it is deeply unpopular.

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Fighting Terrorism | What we Citizens can do?

There have been 6 blasts in all! A daring attempt like this can not be a work of few people.. It involves a series of interdependent men. First ISI,then Millitant Groups and now we have these so called Indian Mujahideen (I wonder why they call themselves Indians?)

Intelligence.. It seems they are the last people to know about anything! They didnt know abt Diwali Blasts,Neither about intrusion on LOC nor about China’s stand in Arunachal Pradesh!! The things our Intelliegence agencies miss can be even guessed on the basis of series of event.. (Even our Cyber Crime Units have officers who are not familiar with basic operations of Internet!) I am sure that some Minister in this Government will come out with the facts that there had been far more bomb blasts in the regime of another Political Party.I do not have any liking for any particular political party but I support their manifestos if they are rational.Did anyone notice that there had been no major terrorists arrests in the regime of present Govt?

Its high time that we, citizens take more responsibilty and ensure safety of our surroundings.

Let me highlight a few points that the average citizen can do

1) Corruption: Do not give or take bribes in any case- this is one of the root causes.
example: A lot of anti-social elements give bribes and get ration cards, passports, birth certificates etc. Thus they get a valid identity.

2) Form an organisation that has intellectuals who are ready to fight for a cause legally.
example: A lot of criminals involved in arms and drug trade get scott free because of lack of evidence. This lack of evidence is becuase of intimidation and buying out of potential witneses. The aim of the organisation should be to put pressure on the government, cops and if need be hire competent lawyers or pay the state appointed lawyer inorder to get the accused prosecuted and also see to it that evidence and witnesses are not tampered with.

3) The average indian is by nature a quiet person who prefers to live and let live. My suggestion is to be more assertive and take action instead of putting your head down like the ostrich and hope that the problem goes away.

4) Make pamplets against corruption, terrorism, etc and spread them around. This does not mean you have to stand on the roadside and distribute them. But if this could be done it would be fantastic. A simpler way is to make say hundred copies of anti-corruption messageand pamplets. Distribute or just put ten in each train/bus you take. In the pamplet request that the person reading if possible make ten copies and spread them around.

5) Have street plays to educate the public about corruption and how it leads to terrorism, and other social evils.

6) If you are well educated, take some time out and volunteer to teach children in orphanages, municipality schools etc.

7) Do not constantly criticize the system, see how you can improve it.

8.) Shopkeepers and outlet owner, Devote a surveillance camera to the road. Record the happening and cooperate with police.We cant work by opposing the system.

9.) Above all , Find out ways in which you can be helpful. No one knows you better than you.

Give suggestions and feedback.. This list is still missing few points..

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Bomb blasts rock New Delhi, 14 killed

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday as a series of synchronised bomb blasts rocked some of the busiest market areas of the Indian capital, police said.

“We can now confirm five blasts,” said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.

The Press Trust of India said a Muslim militant outfit, Indian Mujahideen, had claimed responsibility for the bombings in an e-mail. The group has claimed previous bomb attacks in other Indian cities.

“We can confirm 14 people killed, 40 injured,” Bhagat told AFP.

Television reports put the death toll as high as 18, with more than 70 taken to hospital for treatment.

The five blasts included two at Connaught Place — the city’s largest financial, commercial and business centre, and two more at the upmarket shopping district of Greater Kailash.

India’s television network NDTV quoted the email as saying, “In the name of Allah, the Indian Mujahideen has struck back again.”

Delhi Mayor Aarti Mehra appealed for calm as the blasts spread panic through the city.

“We have the strength to face this,” Mehra told reporters.

“Please stay calm. People in markets right now should go home. Do not be afraid.” he said. “The police and government agencies are on your side. Delhi’s strength is in its people. We cannot be frightened.”

The first blast went off around 6:30 pm (1300 GMT) on a busy Saturday evening, and the others followed in swift succession.

Police at one of the bomb sites in Greater Kailash searched for survivors among a mess of mangled motorcycles and shattered glass from vehicles caught in the blast.

“I was stepping out for a cup of tea when everything turned black in front of me,” said Gulab Singh, an underground train guard. “Then everyone started running.”

Joint Delhi Police Commissioner Ajay Kashyap said an unexploded bomb had been found in Connaught Place.

An explosive expert with one of the bomb disposal units said the explosive devices appeared to have been packed with steel ball bearings and nuts and bolts “to cause maximum harm.”

Triple blasts in New Delhi in October 2005, blamed on Pakistan-backed Islamic rebel groups, claimed nearly 70 lives, while a 2001 attack on India’s national parliament complex also blamed on Muslim militants killed 14 people.

Indian Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings in July that killed at least 45 people in the western commercial city of Ahmedabad.

The Ahmedabad blasts came a day after a series of bombings in the southern high-tech city of Bangalore that killed one person and injured eight.