A suicide driver slammed his explosives-packed vehicle into a concrete barrier in front of the US consulate Friday, setting off a huge explosion that killed 11 people and injured 45.
The attack - the fourth against foreigners in Pakistan since January - prompted the US government to consider scaling back its diplomatic staff in this country on the front line of the war against al-Qaida.
No Americans were among the dead, but one US Marine guard suffered slight injuries from flying debris. Five Pakistanis who work at the consulate also were injured, said Mark Wentworth, a US Embassy spokesman in Islamabad.
Tight security measures, including concrete barriers around a 10-foot-high concrete wall, probably prevented more casualties inside the heavily guarded compound.
US officials in Washington said they suspect al-Qaida or affiliated Islamic extremist groups carried out the attack, but have no direct evidence. Several Pakistani groups in Karachi have ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network.
Late Friday, Karachi newspapers received a fax message claiming responsibility in the name of the previously unknown "Tarjuman-Al-Qanoon," or Spokesman for the Law. The message said the attack was a "preview with more to follow" and was part of a holy war against the United States and its "puppet ally," the Pakistani government.
In Washington, US counterterrorism officials said they were aware of the claim but had not determined if it was credible. And President Bush said the bombing speaks to the nature of terrorism itself.
"We fight an enemy that are radical killers; that's what they are," Bush said. "They claim they are religious people, and then blow up Muslims. They have no regard for human life."
The United States promptly closed its consulates in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, as well as the American Center in Islamabad. A State Department official said a decision will be made soon whether to reopen them Monday.
The US Embassy in Islamabad notified Americans in Pakistan about the bombing and advised them to take precautions.
Police said the driver clipped a police guard post at the southern end of the consulate grounds at 11:08 a.m. before slamming into one of the 3-foot-high concrete security barriers around the perimeter wall.
The vehicle exploded on impact, disintegrating the barrier, collapsing part of the steel-reinforced concrete wall around the compound and hurling debris a half-mile away. The blast incinerated nearly 20 cars and damaged a large tree inside the compound.
Many victims were blown to bits, their body parts found hundreds of yards away.
Dr. Hafiz Athar said 11 people were killed, including 10 identified by relatives or colleagues. The other remains was believed to be that of the bomber.
The dead included the bomber, four Pakistani police constables, three passers-by and three women in a car who had just finished a driver's education course and were on their way to get their licenses.
The blast also damaged the adjacent Marriott Hotel and other buildings, including the Japanese consulate 300 yards away. A Japanese employee was slightly injured by flying debris.
Violence against foreigners has increased since Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf threw his support behind the US-led war in Afghanistan.
The blast occurred less than a mile from the site where 11 French engineers and three others were killed in a suicide bombing May 8. Police suspect Islamic extremists, possibly al-Qaida members, were responsible.
Karachi was also where Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted and slain in January while working on a story about Islamic militants. Four Islamic militants are on trial in that case.
On March 17, a man ran down the aisle of a church in Islamabad's diplomatic enclave, throwing grenades. He was killed along with four others, including two Americans - a US Embassy employee and her teenage daughter. The man has not been identified.
Sharif Ajnabi, a private security guard, was sitting in a park across the street from the consulate in Karachi Friday when the bomb went off.
"I heard a deafening explosion," he said. "There was smoke everywhere. Moments later, I saw a man's body flying in the air, and it fell near me. He was badly injured. Before we could give him water or medical help, he died. It was a horrifying scene."
Police and emergency workers collected body parts and put them on sheets spread on the ground. Ambulances shuttled the injured to hospitals. Wreckage from a car was stuck in a water fountain and in trees.
Police sealed off the area. The heavily secured consulate always has four layers of Pakistani and American guards. The sidewalk in front normally is blocked off and barricades shunt traffic away from lanes next to the building. Few people are allowed inside - even US citizens have to make appointments days in advance.
Javed Ashraf Hussein, chief secretary of Sindh province, visited the scene. "This is sheer terrorism," he said. "We have put this area under high alert and heavy security, but the terrorists struck."
He would not comment on who might be responsible.
Karachi Mayor Naimat Ullah offered sympathy for US officials and vowed to arrest those responsible.
"The terrorists have no religion. They are not Muslim. They are not human. They are just terrorists," he said.
The United States withdrew all nonessential personnel and relatives of other staffers from Pakistan after the church bombing. Other countries have followed suit. Last month, the British mission evacuated 150 staffers out of security concerns.
(China Daily June 15, 2002)
