Suicide bomber kills 3 at UN office in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber blew himself up Monday in the lobby of the U.N. food agency in Islamabad, killing three people just a day after the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed fresh attacks to avenge U.S missile strikes in the northwest, police and witnesses said.

The blast raises questions as to how the bomber managed to evade tight security at the heavily fortified offices of the World Food Program. It could also hamper the work of WFP and other aid agencies assisting Pakistanis displaced by army offensives against al-Qaida and the Taliban in their strongholds close to the Afghan border.

Hours after the attack, the world body said it was closing its offices in Pakistan temporarily.

Militants have carried out scores of suicide attacks in Pakistan over the last 2½ years, several of them targeting foreigners and their interests. Under U.S. pressure, Pakistani security forces have recently had some success targeted the extremists.

The blast Monday shattered windows in the lobby of the compound in an upmarket residential area of Islamabad and left victims lying on the ground in pools of blood, witnesses said.

“There was a huge bang and something hit me. I fell on the floor bleeding,” said Adam Motiwala, an information officer at the U.N. agency who was hospitalized with injuries to his head, leg and ribs.

Police official Bin Yamin said the attacker, who was between 22 and 26 years old, detonated his explosives in the lobby, killing three people, including an Iraqi working for the WFP. The two other dead were Pakistani women. Several others were injured, two of them critically, the WFP said in a statement.

“This is a terrible tragedy for WFP, and for the whole humanitarian community in Pakistan,” said WFP Deputy Executive Director, Amir Abdulla, speaking from the agency’s headquarters in Rome. “Our deepest condolences go to the family, friends and colleagues of those who died or were injured in this incident. These were people working to assist the poor and the vulnerable on the front lines of hunger in Pakistan.”

The bombing was the first such attack in Islamabad since June, when two police where killed. A blast in June on a luxury hotel in the northeastern city of Peshawar killed two U.N. staffers and injured others.

On Sunday, Hakimullah Mehsud, the new leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, met with reporters in the country’s tribal areas for the first time since winning control of the militants. His appearance, flanked by other Taliban commanders in a show of unity, ended speculation that he was killed in a leadership battle within the militant group sparked by the August slaying of his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in a missile strike.

Mehsud said his group would avenge the killing of Baitullah Mehsud and strike back at Pakistan and the U.S. for the increasing number of drone attacks in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. He spoke to a small group of reporters on condition that his comments not be published until Monday.

Unmanned drones have carried out more than 70 missile strikes in northwestern Pakistan over the last year in a covert program, killing several top militant commanders along with sympathizers and civilians. The Pakistani government publicly protests the attacks but is widely believed to sanction them and provide intelligence for at least some.

American officials have said they are considering a strategy of intensified drone attacks combined with the deployment of special operations forces against al-Qaida and Taliban targets on the Pakistani side of the border — part of an alternative to sending more troops to Afghanistan in what is an increasingly unpopular war.

As part of the offensive against the Taliban leadership, Mehsud’s brother, Kalimullah, was killed last month. Analysts say the group is struggling to regroup from the attacks on its leaders. Pakistani officials had speculated that Hakimullah had been killed in a recent shootout.

Associated Press Writer Ishtiaq Mahsud contributed from Sararogha.