Five killed as suicide bomber targets UN office in Pakistan

A suicide bomber disguised as a security officer blew up the UN food agency’s Pakistan headquarters killing five people today.

The attack came a day after the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed to stage more attacks.

The blast raised questions over how the bomber managed to evade tight security at the heavily fortified World Food Programme compound in the capital Islamabad.

It could also hamper the work of WFP and other aid agencies assisting Pakistanis displaced by army offensives against al Qaida and the Taliban in their strongholds close to the Afghan border.

Hours after the attack, the world body said it was closing its offices in Pakistan temporarily.

“This is a heinous crime committed against those who have been working tirelessly to assist the poor and vulnerable on the front lines of hunger and other human suffering in Pakistan,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. He said the UN would continue, however, providing humanitarian assistance to the Pakistani people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Militants have carried out scores of suicide attacks in Pakistan over the last two years, several of them targeting foreigners and their interests. Under Western pressure, Pakistani security forces have recently had some success combating the extremists.

The blast shattered windows in the lobby of the compound in an upmarket residential area of Islamabad and left victims lying on the ground in pools of blood. The office is close to a home belonging to President Asif Ali Zardari.

Security camera footage showed the bomber walking through a door into what appears to be the main building carrying a two-foot-long cylindrical object - possibly a detonator – in one hand. Seconds later, a bright flash fills the screen.

“There was a huge bang, and something hit me. I fell on the floor bleeding,” said Adam Motiwala, an information officer at the UN agency who was hospitalised with injuries to his head, leg and ribs.

Medical officials at two hospitals said five people had been killed in the attack, including an Iraqi working for the agency. Two of those killed were Pakistani women. Several others were injured, two of them critically.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attacker was wearing the uniform of a paramilitary police officer and asked a guard if he could go inside the building to use the bathroom. He was carrying around 18lbs of explosives.

Police said the attacker, who was in his 20s, detonated his explosives in the lobby. It was unclear how he made it that far. Typically, visitors to UN buildings in Islamabad are screened and patted down for weapons and explosives in secure chambers some distance from the entrance to the building.

The bombing was the first such attack in Islamabad since June, when two police where killed.

Another blast in June on a luxury hotel in the north-western city of Peshawar killed two UN staff and injured others.

Yesterday Hakimullah Mehsud, the new leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, vowed to strike back at Pakistan and the US for the increasing number of drone attacks in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

Unmanned drones have carried out more than 70 missile strikes in north-western Pakistan over the last year in a covert programme, killing several top militant commanders along with sympathisers and civilians. The Pakistani government publicly protests at the attacks but is widely believed to sanction them and provide intelligence for at least some.

Pakistan has largely beaten back a Taliban insurgency in the north-western Swat Valley in recent months and intelligence officials say the country is preparing a major offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban in their stronghold in South Waziristan.