At Least Six Dead in Bomb Blast at U.N. Office in Pakistan

Posted on Oct 5, 2009

AP / B.K. Bangash

Media members and volunteers outside the offices of the World Food Program after an explosion in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday.

The United Nations World Food Program office in Islamabad, Pakistan, was a suicide bomber’s target Monday, and unfortunately it was a successful strike. The bomber was able to enter the building in the guise of a guard and set off 16 pounds of explosives during a busy noontime at the office, according to The New York Times.  —KA

The New York Times:

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The World Food Program said that four of the dead were Pakistani nationals, while one was from Iraq. Two were women: Farzana Barkat, an office assistant, and Gulrukh Tahir, a receptionist. The other two were men: Mohammed Wahab and Abid Rehman, both financial assistants. The Iraqi victim was identified as Botan Ahmed Ali al-Hayawi, an information and communication technology officer.

The bombing was the first direct attack against a United Nations agency here in the Pakistani capital, and Ishrat Rizvi, the spokeswoman for United Nations operations in Islamabad, said that all of the organization’s offices in Pakistan were immediately closed.

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