Peshawar: An explosion at Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar on Tuesday night has killed at least 11 people and left the five-star hotel in ruins.
It's the seventh attack in the city since May, when the military began operations against the Taliban in the Swat Valley.
The blast is a chilling reminder to last year's Marriott Hotel attack in Islamabad in September 2008.
The terrorists stormed the outer security barrier of the hotel, drove a vehicle loaded with explosives inside the hotel gates and blew it up. The explosion was so severe that it was heard upto 10 km away. The blast destroyed a number of buildings in the area and blasted a crater.
"They (terrorists) started firing and after that they triggered a blast. They came in a white coloured pick-up van," said an eyewitness.
"Around 350 to 500 kg RDX was used for the blast. The damages are almost as much as last year's Marriott blast and could have been bigger if the car had exploded in a confined area," claimed Peshawar in Inspector General Shaukat Ullal.
The 11 people who died included a UN worker while 70 others were injured.
No outfit has claimed responsibility, but in the backdrop of the war against Taliban, Pakistan isn't looking too far the culprits.
"Perhaps this is an outcome of the operation against the militants in the Swat Valley," said DawnNews correspondent Zahir Shah.
The Pakistan government has said that it won't scale back spending on anti-India weapons but the latest attack is perhaps a wake-up call that the terror within is the more immediate threat.
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