ISLAMABAD, 26 December 2003 — Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf yesterday escaped the second assassination attempt in 11 days when two massive suicide bombs exploded moments after his motorcade passed. Musharraf’s car was damaged but he was unhurt. At least 17 people were killed, including two attackers, and 52 wounded.
Musharraf, who appeared unruffled, said it was unclear exactly who was responsible for the afternoon attack. “Certainly they are terrorists, extremists...They are endangering Islam.”
He said his car came under attack when he was returning home from a meeting of ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
“A suicide bomber first attacked me, but, thank God, nothing happened to us and we moved ahead,” he said, adding that another car then tried to attack his armored Mercedes. “I am sorry that people lost their lives and more than 40 were wounded,” he said. “They lost their lives because of me.”
Some people said there had been a big security lapse, but Musharraf declined to make any hasty comment.
“These are suicide bombers and to check them is not easy. They are like mobile bombs,” he said. “People protect me by risking their lives. They are loyal. If there is a lapse by some individual, we will look into it. But we should not take steps in haste.”
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said it was too early to say who might be responsible.
“It could be Al-Qaeda, it could be an internal factor, or both internal and external,” he said. “We can say something only after investigations are complete.”
Officials said two suicide attackers driving pickup trucks, each loaded with 20-30 kilograms (44-66 pounds) of explosive, detonated as they tried to ram into the president’s motorcade as it passed two nearby gas stations on a main road in Rawalpindi. Eyewitnesses reported seeing body parts, shattered cars and broken glass along the route. Among the dead was a soldier and three policemen. Some police officers in the motorcade were hurt and a diversionary open-topped Mercedes at the tail end of the motorcade was blown across the road.
No suspects have been identified in either attack, but Musharraf has pointed the finger in both cases at religious extremists, who have been angered by his support for the US-led war on terrorism in neighboring Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Pakistan had been a key supporter of Afghanistan’s hard-line Taleban regime.
Musharraf uses the road where the attack occurred nearly every day as he travels from his residence to his presidential offices. Rawalpindi is home to the army headquarters and until recently was regarded as one of the most secure cities in the country.
The attack prompted serious new concern over Musharraf’s security. It happened a few hundred meters from where would-be assassins detonated a huge bomb on Dec. 14 that also missed the president narrowly — and just 10 days ahead of a summit of South Asian leaders to be held in Islamabad.
India’s Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is due to attend the summit. Some analysts questioned whether Vajpayee would want to make the trip given security concerns.
India strongly condemned the attack. An Indian Foreign Ministry statement said: “We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the casualties.” The statement made no mention of the summit.
Pakistani Cabinet ministers went into an emergency meeting with Musharraf at his presidential palace. Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali later “strongly condemned the dastardly attack.” “It was an unfortunate incident and the government would never submit before terrorism, (but) rather continue its fight against it,” Jamali said. The latest bid came a day after Musharraf reached an agreement with hard-line Islamic opponents to step down as chief of army staff by the end of 2004 in order to resolve a long-running row that has virtually paralyzed Parliament.
Shireen Mazari, head of the state-funded Institute of Strategic Studies, said the attacks could be the work of extremists wanting to derail moves toward peace with India and unhappy with the war on terror.
— Additional input from Umer Farooq and agencies
