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Pakistan Marriott bombing heightens instability
22 September 2008
On 20 September, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden truck into the security barricade outside the main entrance of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, destroying most of the building and leaving at least 53 people dead and more than 250 others injured.
Preliminary investigations indicate that between 600 and 1,000 kg of explosives were packed in the truck. The powerful blast burst the hotel's gas cylinders and triggered a blaze that quickly engulfed the 300-room hotel.
The hotel was targeted possibly because it is perceived as a symbol of Western capitalism at a time when anti-US sentiment has sharply grown in Pakistan, fuelled by the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and Washington's recent ground incursions in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Local and international media have speculated that the Marriott bombing may have been a retaliatory attack for recent US military actions against suspected militant hideouts in the tribal areas near the Afghan border.