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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan's
President Pervez Musharraf narrowly survived — in a second
assassination attempt — in less than two weeks when suicide
car bombers attacked his motorcade, killing at least sixteen
people and wounding over 50 others.
The blasts on Thursday on the same main road in the city of
Rawalpindi where Musharraf escaped an assassination bid on
December-14, slightly damaged the President's armored Mercedes
but he was unhurt. ‘The President and all his companions are
safe and sound’, a government official said.
'Assassination Attempt'
‘It was an assassination attempt.’ said Information Minister
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed by adding that ‘two suicide attackers in
two cars tried to hit president's vehicle. God has saved him.’
Damages
Several vehicles, belonging to various people, including three
cars of the motorcade were damaged.
The windscreen of Musharraf's car was slightly damaged. Those
injured — by n’ large — included police personnel.
The attack occurred only 200 yards (meters) away from the
December-14 attempt on Musharraf's life, in which a series of
explosions ripped apart a bridge just after his motorcade
passed over it.
The Thursday blasts came a day after the Jamali-led government
reached an agreement with hard-line MMA — where after President
Musharraf decided to step down as Chief of Army Staff by the
end of 2004 to resolve a long-running row that has virtually
paralyzed Pakistan’s parliament.
Causalities
The Interior Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat has confirmed the
number of casualties whereby he puts at least 14 persons as
killed and about 46
injured following an assassination attempt on President
General
Pervez Musharraf.
Talking to state-run television, he said, 'the death toll
unfortunately is
around 14 and about 46 were injured.'
The Interior Minister said the bodies and injured have
been shifted to hospitals.
Rescue Ops
Faisal said rescue operations were underway and 'as soon as
the
operation ends we will be able to tell the exact figure'.
He termed the incident very unfortunate, tragic and sad.
Backdrop
The incident took place at 1.40 PM [8.40 GMT] whereby at least
two blasts blew out windows in a radius of about two km (one
mile) along the main road, showering the area with broken
glass. Body parts and pieces of mangled vehicles were
scattered about.
‘The explosions shook my house. A body has been thrown just in
front of my house,’ a resident said shortly after the attack.
Security at High Alert
Whereas, security in the twin cities has been placed — at High
Alert — military soldiers n’ police have cordoned off the scene,
a main road connecting Rawalpindi with the capital city of
Islamabad. The route is used almost daily by Musharraf to
drive to the capital.
An aide to the president said some of those travelling in a
diversionary vehicle at the rear of the convoy may have been
hurt, but added: ‘The President is safe and is in good
spirits.’
Musharraf's Limousine
President Pervez Musharraf's limousine was slightly damaged in
the attack in Civil Lines area of Rawalpindi on Thursday, but
the president was unhurt.
Suicide attackers in two cars tried to hit the president's
vehicle on 01:40 PM whe he was returning to home from
Islamabad.
Location
The incident occurred near two petrol pumps. A car attempted
to hit motorcade near the first petrol pump, while the second
vehicle attempted to target the convoy near the second petrol
pump, near a populated vicinity, Jhanda Chichi yet both
attempts failed.
President and his staff is safe. Three cars of the cavalcade,
including the president's car, were damaged, The Info Minister
said.
An earlier report said that President Pervez Musharraf’s
convoy was targeted by a suicide bomb attack on Thursday noon
in Rawalpindi’s Civil Lines area, however Musharraf and his
staff survived in the attack.
ISPR Version
The Director General Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR)
Major General Shaukat Sultan said Thursday rvrning that
President General Pervez Musharraf is safe and his morale is
high,
'The morale of President Pervez Musharraf is very high,' he
told 'Pakistan Times', the first independent daily web
newspaper of Pakistan by phone.
He said 'President Pervez Musharraf is an ideal combination of
a soldier leader and statesman.'
DG ISPR said the President and all members of his entourage
are safe.
He said the President's car received only a few minor
scratches.
He said that 'the suicide bombers were in two cars. They made an
attempt on the President's convoy. One of them tried to plough
into
the convoy and after he failed a second attempt was made by
another
bomber.'
The President's car had already passed while the last vehicle
of his squad was damaged. A police van was damaged and some
people inside were injured, he said.
The DG ISPR said none of the vehicles in the President's
motorcade were seriously damaged.
To a question, he said, it is premature to say who were
involved in the incident.
He, however said that 'people involved in the incident were
not
happy the way country is making progress and development'.
Passers-by
Passers by are among the dead and injured. Suicide bombers
were killed and their vehicles were destroyed in the incident.
Dead bodies and wounded were vacated to the hospital, credible
sources said by adding 'it was too early to determine who
might be responsible for the attack'.
Suspects
Authorities suspect a set militants, who Musharraf has
targeted as part of his crusade to the US-led war on terror,
were behind the December-14 attack.
Musharraf told a British
news agency, a few days later it could have been the work of
al-Qaeda and he believed luck had shielded him.
A convoy carrying President Pervez Musharraf drove along a
road minutes before explosions that wounded or killed several
people, witnesses said.
Two Blasts
Two petrol pumps situated nearby were destroyed in blasts. The
dead bodies were brought to the hospitals, Edhi sources said.
The mutilated body parts of the victims were spread in the
area after the blast.
Eye-Witnesses
Witnesses say a car carrying the bomb raced out from a gas
station, as President Pervez Musharraf's motorcade passed by
on the route that police had closed to traffic.
Witnesses say it appears the assailants tried to hit vehicles
in the Presidential motorcade.
Police have sealed off the site. Witnesses say it appears
there may be several casualties, and body parts littered the
scene.
The incident comes just over a week after President Musharraf
escaped a bomb that targeted his convoy.
Electric Supply Disrupted
The explosion shattered windows in a wide area. Supply of
electricity was also disrupted in Jhanda Chichi where overhead
electricity cables were also damaged.
Power to various vicinities, mostly, around the venue of the
incident was reported disrupted till the pre-dawn hours of
Friday. It could not be restored, despite best efforts.
The road has been closed for all types of traffic from the
the city's Ammar Chowk to Kutchery Chowk.
Third Episode
Thursday's episode was the third-one. The first took place at
Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi last year wherein the attackers'
device did not work, as is said, due to fault in its
operation.
The first attack, which occurred just 500 meters from
Thursday's incident, was foiled when a remote-control
explosive device failed to detonate as the president's car
passed by.
Blast Effects
Sophisticated jamming gadgets — indexed in the President
motorcade — thwarted the attempt saved his life — yet caused
enormous damage to a significant bridge, near Ckaklala Scheme
III, a posh residential area in Rawalpindi vicinity.
Two petrol pumps — reported as the venue of the suicidal
attempt — stand damaged. One of the two filling stations, just
close to the Civil Line police state, belongs to Police.
One side of this bridge — which connects Rawalpindi, the
residential city of the President with capital Islamabad n’ is
the only routine route for the President for his daily voyage
to his office in Islamabad — is still closed to all sorts of
traffic.
Two persons — involved in the suicide attempt — are also reported
dead, a government spokesman said.
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