Suicide attackers in a truck launched an assault Tuesday on a luxury hotel commonly used by foreigners in Peshawar,firing guns as they stormed past guards and then setting off a huge blast that killed at least five people and wounded 65 more,Pakistani officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the largest city in Pakistan's restive northwest,but it fit the pattern of recent Taliban attacks the militants said were in retaliation for a military campaign against militants in the Swat Valley. Local television networks showed part of the Pearl Continental Hotel had been demolished in the blast,reduced to concrete rubble and twisted steel. The scene was pandemonium,with armed police rushing around and Pakistani men standing by looking stunned. One man held a bloodied rag to his head. A large crater was blasted into the ground. An AP reporter saw six foreigners being helped out of the hotel. They all had wounds and at least two of them had bandages around their heads. One of them said,We work for UNHCR. He also said that officials from World Food Program were also staying at the hotel. Police official Liaqat Ali said he learned from witnesses that three men riding in a truck approached the main gate of the hotel and opened fire at security guards before driving inside. They drove the vehicle inside the hotel gates and blew it up on reaching close to the hotel building, Ali said. Sahibzada Anis,a top government official in Peshawar,said at least five people were killed. Another police official Ghulam Md Khan said so far 65 wounded people had been shifted to various hospitals. An injured man,Jawad Chaudhry,said he was in his room on the ground floor when he heard gunshots and then a big bang. The floor under my feet shook. I thought the roof was falling on me. I ran out. I saw everybody running in panic, he said. There was blood and pieces of glass everywhere. The Pearl Continental,famous as PC among Pakistanis,is relatively well-guarded and set far back from the main road. It is located just over a mile from the airport. Parking in front of the structure is heavily restricted,and to get to the front doors of the building,a car has to undergo security checks and travel around concrete and metal barriers. The hotel is a favorite place for foreigners and elite Pakistanis to stay and socialize,making it a high-profile target for militants. Last year,a massive bombing at Islamabads Marriott Hotel killed over 50 people and wounded dozens,rattling the nation.
