By IRNA,
Islamabad : At least eight people, including a foreign, were killed when a car bomb exploded near the Denmark Embassy in Islamabad, the Interior Advisor said.
Rehman Malik said policemen and private security guards deployed for security of the embassy were among those killed.
The bomb exploded at the main gate of the embassy at 1:20 pm. The blast badly damaged building of the embassy, according to witnesses.
Rehman Malik said the car used in the blast was registered in Islamabad and a high level inquiry has been ordered.
Doctors at Islamabad’s Polyclinic Hospital also said that a body of foreign was brought to the hospital.
The blast destroyed around 30 vehicles at the car park of the embassy at the posh F-6 sector of the capital, witnesses said.
Police said that preliminary investigation shows that car was used in the blast to target the embassy.
Witnesses said that a four-foot deep crater was created at the blast site.
No group claimed responsibility of the attack. Such attacks are blamed on suspected militants.
The blast completely destroyed post of the private guards outside the embassy, causing death also to a security guard, witnesses said.
The blast shattered windows throughout the area, and a cloud of brown smoke climbed hundreds of feet into the sky, which was visible across Islamabad.
Secretary Interior Syed Kamal Shah said the car used in the blast was on the middle of road and the police are investigating if the car was moving or a remote control was used to blow it up.
“It is an act of terrorism and it is premature to say as to who are behind the blast,” Shah said.
He said the police are investigating whether or not it was a suicide attack. Bomb experts have collected materials from the blast site for reexamination, he said.
The Denmark embassy Islamabad is located in residential area outside the two diplomatic enclaves.
Denmark had temporarily shut its embassy in Islamabad after violent protests in Pakistan over blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in February 2006.