Islamofile 092108: Pakistan Blames Al Qaeda For Marriott Bombing

Pakistan blames Al-Qaeda linked Taliban militants for the massive suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 260.

Pakistani investigators are hunting an Al-Qaeda cell based in Islamabad that is believed to have carried out the bombing of the Marriott Hotel security officials said Monday.

Investigators said they believed the attackers constructed the massive 600-kilo (1,300 pound) truck bomb at a safe house in the capital, since all lorries entering the heavily-guarded city are searched at checkpoints.

Dramatic footage of Saturday night's attack showed the attacker failed to get through a barrier when he crashed his explosives-laden truck into the hotel's security gates. At least 60 people were killed.

"Our focus at the moment is to track down the network in Islamabad which must have facilitated the movement and construction of the bomb," a senior official involved in the investigation told AFP.

"Carrying 600 kilos of explosives over long distances and through checkpoints is not possible, so our immediate suspicion is that the bomb was loaded in Islamabad," the official said.

It was likely, however, that the explosives were smuggled into Islamabad in small consignments from militant strongholds in the rugged tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, the official added.

Pakistan is fighting a bloody campaign against Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists based near the border, who have launched dozens of suicide attacks over the past year, often using small cells in major cities.

Another senior Pakistani security official said the explosives used in the bombing were like those used in two other major militant attacks, including one on the Danish embassy in Islamabad in June.

"We are collecting evidence. The explosives were similar to those used in the Danish embassy, which was claimed by Al-Qaeda, and the attack on the ISI camp in Rawalpindi last year," the official said.

One of Al-Qaeda's leaders, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, said that the Danish embassy attack, which killed six people, was "in revenge" for Danish newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

No group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a bus near a facility of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Rawalpindi in November last year, which killed at least 15 people. (source)