Pak investigators search for clues in Danish embassy bombing
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
ISLAMABAD, June 03 (AP): Investigators reviewed video and picked through debris Tuesday as Denmark's intelligence service said al-Qaeda or a terror affiliate was likely behind a car bomb that exploded outside its embassy in Pakistan, killing six people.
No one has claimed responsibility, but the explosion came just weeks after the terrorist group threatened Denmark over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad reprinted earlier this year in newspapers in that country.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said in a statement late Monday that the embassy was probably the target.
"It is PET's assessment that al-Qaeda or an al-Qaeda-related group likely is behind the attack," agency director Jakob Scharf said. He added that "a series of other militant Islamic groups and networks in Pakistan also could have the intention and the capacity to hit Danish targets in Pakistan."
The explosion wounded at least 35 people, left a deep crater on the road outside the embassy, severely damaged the nearby office of a development group and devastated trees and cars. The embassy building remained standing, though its windows were shattered.
A team of federal investigators sifted through the rubble. Barricades blocked access to the area, home to several diplomatic buildings and residences.
Officials were trying to determine if the bomb was a suicide attack and looked at security footage. Senior police officer Ahmed Latif said the attacker apparently used a fake diplomatic license plate to get the car near the embassy.
The six dead include two Pakistani policemen, a cleaner and a handyman employed by the embassy. One was Pakistani-born with a Danish passport, the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen said.
No one has claimed responsibility, but the explosion came just weeks after the terrorist group threatened Denmark over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad reprinted earlier this year in newspapers in that country.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said in a statement late Monday that the embassy was probably the target.
"It is PET's assessment that al-Qaeda or an al-Qaeda-related group likely is behind the attack," agency director Jakob Scharf said. He added that "a series of other militant Islamic groups and networks in Pakistan also could have the intention and the capacity to hit Danish targets in Pakistan."
The explosion wounded at least 35 people, left a deep crater on the road outside the embassy, severely damaged the nearby office of a development group and devastated trees and cars. The embassy building remained standing, though its windows were shattered.
A team of federal investigators sifted through the rubble. Barricades blocked access to the area, home to several diplomatic buildings and residences.
Officials were trying to determine if the bomb was a suicide attack and looked at security footage. Senior police officer Ahmed Latif said the attacker apparently used a fake diplomatic license plate to get the car near the embassy.
The six dead include two Pakistani policemen, a cleaner and a handyman employed by the embassy. One was Pakistani-born with a Danish passport, the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen said.