November 19, 1995
Web posted at: 9:40 a.m. EST (1440 GMT) GMT
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A car bomb explosion
Sunday morning outside the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan
destroyed the face of the building, killed at least 13 people
and wounded dozens more, both inside and outside the
building, Pakistani officials said. (900K QuickTime movie) At least one Egyptian
diplomat and three embassy guards were reported among the
dead, but Egypt's ambassador to Pakistan, Mohamed Noman
Galal, was not in the building at the time. A militant
Muslim group in Egypt, al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, which means
Islamic Group, claimed responsibility for the blast that
rocked a high security area of the Pakistani capital at 9:30
a.m. local time (0430 GMT).
Egyptian officials were reporting at least 15 deaths, but Pakistani police and hospitals put the number at 13.
Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar told reporters the
explosion was a suicide car bombing. Pieces of debris and
human flesh were scattered up to 50 meters (160 feet) from
the embassy. The blast tore a crater about six meters (20
feet) wide inside the embassy compound, ripping off the whole
facade of the two-story building and wrecking several parked
cars. Windows of nearby buildings, including a French
embassy school, were shattered, causing minor injuries. An
estimated two dozen vehicles were damaged or destroyed. Most
were just turned into torn shrapnel.
Sunday's bombing was Islamic Group's fourth attack on
Egyptian targets outside the country. The militant group
tried to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in June
by ambushing his motorcade as he arrived in the Ethiopian
capital of Addis Ababa. After Egyptian police shot dead a
Gamaa military leader they believed trained the would-be
assassins a week ago, the outlawed group warned it would
retaliate by escalating its attacks against government
targets. The bombing comes 10 days before Egyptians go to
the polls to elect a new lower house, the People's Assembly.
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