Islamabad, June 15
Officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are reaching Pakistan tomorrow to assist in investigations into a car bomb explosion in Karachi yesterday that left 11 persons dead.
The probe would be carried out in collaboration with the local police, US Consul-General John K. Bauman said on a visit to the scene of the attack in which around 45 persons were also injured.
“In fact, two groups would be arriving, one would be of Marines to enhance security,” Mr Bauman was quoted as saying in newspapers.
The Consul-General, who was in the consulate at the time of the explosion, said the building “was reverberating from the blast”. He hinted the teams would be in Pakistan by tomorrow night.
Asked about the security measures to protect the consulate, he said: “We have very advanced warning system, but this one (bomb) went off without that.”
He said the vehicle was “intentionally” driven close to the consulate wall, and detonated when it reached the corner of the compound, creating a crater.
Asked whether it was a suicide bombing, Mr Bauman said it would be better for the Pakistani police to describe that.
But he said suicide bombing “is not part of the culture here”, except for a grenade attack on a church in Islamabad in March that killed five persons, and a car bomb explosion outside Sheraton Hotel in Karachi in May in which 17 died.
US embassy spokesperson Mark Wentworth said: “We have only temporarily closed the embassy and consulates following the blast.” He described the closure as a “precautionary measure”.
IANS
