Karachi Blasted Again

after i saw this on chowk, i listened to BBC world-service bulletine and was surprised that there was no mention of this. why? they must have figured out that this is one of those chota-mota bums not worth mentioning. chowk-staff wanted to show balance since they posted dilli bum-blasts and then HP whined..no big deal, sub log ghar jao.

Omar,
I hope that you and your family are safe. Seriously, I get so upset when I hear of this meaningless violence in, what I have been told repeatedly, used to be one of the safest cities in South Asia. I think the citizens of Karachi have every right to demand better protection from the inept, incapable, and possibly guility federal administration. If the corrupt federales in Islamabad cannot protect Karachi, then they should allow Karachi to develop its own defensive capability and protect the lives, liberty, and property of every Karachiite. If these measures include controlled access into Karachi, visas for outsiders, and ad-hoc searches of vehicles, so be it.

godot -- initial reports, even of the death toll, are alwas sketchy -- also i think the tendency among expat pakistanis to believe wire service stories at face value -- i suppose they have no choice -- is not good -- the main reason for this is that in many cases the wire services reporters themselves get their information second hand from local reportsrs -- this is quite common -- in this particular case, first the death toll was three -- then two -- and then brought back to three again -- do not know what it will be by the time the paper goes into print because people were injured -- and im afraid your comment that some people are more concerned about details than loss of life seems a bit absurd -- for journalists detail is important as well -- you dont want to be telling your readers that oh three or maybe five people were killed in the blast -- kindly try and look at it from the point of view of the media here since i made that initial remark from that vantage point -- and that was what bina was backing

When will the KFC subsidiaries learn to do chicken right?

I suspect the following:

1. Popey`s
2. Church`s - obviously Christian fundos.
3. Domestic kukaR tikka dhabas

Re: # 6
godot...
...does your friendship with farzana versey make you the official spokesman of chowk management...i never saw you poking your nose so blatantly in the past unless you think chowk editor and the management are nincompoops and need your help at each step...

Re: # 18

``this wasn`t my point in the first place.``

What was it?

``can we give it a rest now?``

Works for me.

Saw it on CNN this evening.

Anyway, you can read the news at the BBC Web site which is reporting both the KFC and the BLA theories.

However this wasn`t my point in the first place.

So can we give it a rest now?

Re: # 9

Bina

``CNN is reporting that a Balochi nationalist group was targeting an oil company (probably PPL) in the PIDC building, so you tell me, Godot.

I don`t know which CNN you are talking about, but the following can be found on cnn.com...so you tell me, Bina...


Explosion shakes Karachi
At least 3 dead in blast outside U.S. restaurant
From Syed Mohsin Naqvi

CNN
Tuesday, November 15, 2005; Posted: 3:07 a.m. EST (08:07 GMT)

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police have been put on high alert.

``It seems to be the target was KFC, but yet we have to wait and see,`` said Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Pakistan`s information minister. He noted the 8:45 a.m. (10:45 p.m. ET Monday) blast also occurred in front of a Pakistani Industrial Development Corporation building.

Video from the scene showed about half a dozen cars on fire and the windows of buildings blown out.

Police had sealed off the area, local media reported.

In September, two nearly simultaneous explosions went off at other fast food restaurants -- another KFC and a McDonald`s in Karachi`s Defense district.

The first bomb detonated inside the KFC restaurant, followed about eight minutes later by a blast outside the McDonald`s on the city`s beach front. (Full story)

U.S. fast food outlets in Karachi have been targeted before. On May 30, a KFC restaurant was burned and six workers inside were killed during an outbreak of religious sectarian violence in the city.

Hundreds of people gathered at the site of the blast, near the Pearl Intercontinental Hotel that is popular with international tourists and businesspeople, The Associated Press reported.

Previous bombings in Pakistan have been linked to Islamic extremists opposed to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf`s close ties to the United States. Pakistan has been a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

#14 by faisaluno on November 15, 2005 5:57am PT


this blast does not appear to be the work of jehadis who generally strike against targets associated with western governments such as embassies or against places associated with shias.


That`s right.....KFC and other symbols of the west have never been targeted before by the jihadis..

my bad

The choices are

1. Military wing of the salvation army
2. Jehovah`s witnesses
3. Pakistani jews
4. PETA
5. Islamic militants trained, armed and funded by the Pakistani establishment to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

6. RAW in retaliation for blasts in Delhi???

actually b.l.a is a front of india and the blast could be indian response to bomb blast in delhi. certainly would not be the first time an incident like this has taken place in pak fairly soon after a bomb blast in india. this blast does not appear to be the work of jehadis who generally strike against targets associated with western governments such as embassies or against places associated with shias. given the location of the blast, i think the intent was to send a message saying that pak`s economic interests are at stake if pak govt does not shape up.

anyway its immaterial who is behind the blast because its the govt`s responsibility to prevent such incidences from taking place. and i do have confidence that people behind the blast will be caught and then tortured. retards responsible for such events rarely have the brains to evade the long arm of pak intelligence.

Re: # 12

agree with all the four points. But 5? [rolling eyes icon]. Surely there is somemistake here

Who are the culprits?

The choices are

1. Military wing of the salvation army
2. Jehovah`s witnesses
3. Pakistani jews
4. PETA
5. Islamic militants trained, armed and funded by the Pakistani establishment to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

This from the current edition of New York Review of Books (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18514) is funny, if it wasn`t serious!

``A significant proportion of these are run by, or connected to, the radical Islamist political parties such as the MMM, which under Sami`s vice-presidency have just imposed a Taliban-like regime on Pakistan`s North-West Frontier Province, banning the public performance of music and depictions of the human form. The one exception to this, bizarrely, is the image of Colonel Sanders outside the new Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Peshawar. This was apparently because the Colonel was judged to be sporting a properly Islamic beard, and so was spared the iconoclasm imposed elsewhere.``

I agree with Godot.

Well, CNN is reporting that a Balochi nationalist group was targeting an oil company (probably PPL) in the PIDC building, so you tell me, Godot.

#6 moeed - the issue is something more than that......you see its farzana who is the editor-in-chef of this place. A minor, yet crucial point.

#6 moeed - the issue is something more than that......you see its farzana who is the editor-in-chef of this place. A minor, yet crucial point.

The following is in the Financial Times. How is different than what Chowk reported? Or Reuters did not get its “facts” right?

Apparently to some people the technicalities of what gets reported is more important than the loss and what’s at stake...

Car bomb outside KFC in Karachi kills six
KARACHI, Nov 15 (Reuters)

A car bomb killed at least six people on Tuesday in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in a attack most likely aimed at a KFC restaurant, police and ambulance crew said.

A government spokesman said at least four people died and several were injured, some seriously, but he said information was still coming in from the scene.

An ambulance crew member for the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan’s largest charity, told Reuters six bodies were taken to hospital.

The car bomb exploded outside the KFC outlet in downtown Karachi around 9 a.m. local time (0400 GMT), gutting the restaurant and shattering the windows of a nearby six-storey office block housing several oil and gas exploration firms.

“This is an act of terrorism and apparently the KFC was the target,” Manzoor Mughal, chief of investigation for Karachi police, told Reuters. “Our initial findings were that an explosive was placed inside a car.”

Police said the bomb caused casualties in and outside the office block. It was not clear if KFC was open at the time of the blast.

Some banks on the ground floor of the office building also felt the force of the blast, which blew other cars on the road to pieces. Tenants of the building include Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL)

Another KFC restaurant and a McDonald’s outlet came under attack in September in Karachi. Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other at the two fast-food franchises, injuring at least two people, police said.

:)
or maybe bina is a better reporter !

:)
or maybe bina is a better reporter !

Yeah Chowk..leave the reporting and the commenting to the TVs, as you don’t have enough Molvis on-the-spot reporters telling us that it was wrath of Allah MiaN. What was Allah doing at KFC? The bottom-line is that Pakistan has been taken over by those who don’t value human life and those who come up with justification for not valuing human life. Beena Ji (#2), what difference does it make if it took place at PIDC or KFC? They both have a C in it (don’t they??), so that’s close enough for the rest of us who don’t look for little stupid technicalities in a lousy arrangement of the alphabet. P A K I S

Omar I agree with you. Several of the facts are misreported in this snippet. The blast took place at 8:40 am, not nine. The location of the bomb was outside the PIDC building (the KFC outlet is located there, but as there are several throughout Karachi it`s better to mention PIDC as the major landmark). And most glaring, the bomb went off this morning - which is November 15!!!!!

Chowk, leave the reporting to the newspapers and television stations.

why would chowk do a follow up -- what are the newspapers and tv channels for ? this is NOT a news website and i dont think it can really become one either