Czech ambassador dies in hotel blast

The Czech ambassador to Pakistan was among the victims of an Islamabad hotel bombing that killed at least 57, officials say. Between 150 and 230 others were injured in what appeared to be a suicide truck bombing, CNN reported today. Czech ambassador to Pakistan Ivo Zdarek, 47, was among the fatalities, police superintendent Sheikh Zubair said, while two Americans and a Lithuanian were also among the casualties. Czech ambassador dies in hotel blast The attack is likely to have been carried out or supported by Al Qaeda, according to a U.S. intelligence official. A truck, already on fire and thought to have been packed with explosives, blew up in front of the building. The casualty count could have been far worse. Security guards had time to warn guests to go to the back of the hotel. Minutes earlier there had been hundreds of people in a now-destroyed banquet hall. A Danish diplomat is missing, as are members of a Saudi airline crew. More than a dozen other foreigners were injured. Just hours earlier Pakistan’s new President, Asif Ali Zadari, said suicide bombings were an “epidemic”. He called on parliament to do more to root out the terrorists. Pakistan’s army is in the midst of a major offensive against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near the Afghan border. U.S. forces are also launching attacks on Muslim fundamentalists from Afghanistan. The Marriot in flames (Beta)

Czech ambassador dies in hotel blast

The attack is likely to have been carried out or supported by Al Qaeda, according to a U.S. intelligence official.

A truck, already on fire and thought to have been packed with explosives, blew up in front of the building.

The casualty count could have been far worse. Security guards had time to warn guests to go to the back of the hotel. Minutes earlier there had been hundreds of people in a now-destroyed banquet hall.

A Danish diplomat is missing, as are members of a Saudi airline crew. More than a dozen other foreigners were injured.

Just hours earlier Pakistan’s new President, Asif Ali Zadari, said suicide bombings were an “epidemic”.

He called on parliament to do more to root out the terrorists.

Pakistan’s army is in the midst of a major offensive against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near the Afghan border.

U.S. forces are also launching attacks on Muslim fundamentalists from Afghanistan.