09952

06/18/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09952

BOMBING AT KARACHI CONSULATE

The United States consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, is resuming operations after a terrorist car-bombing that killed at least twelve people and wounded about fifty. The June 14^th explosion blew a large hole in the wall in front of the consulate, damaged or destroyed nearly twenty cars, and sent debris flying hundreds of meters. A previously unknown group calling itself "al-Qanoon," or "the Law," claimed responsibility.

U.S. and Pakistani officials condemned the terrorist attack. As U.S. officials pointed out, some of the Pakistanis killed or wounded in the attack were there to protect the consulate. "It reminds us once again," said Philip Reeker, deputy State Department spokesman, "of the risks faced every day by our diplomats and local employees. . . . It only strengthens our determination. . .to defeat terrorism around the world."

"Since September 11^th," said Mr. Reeker, the U.S. has worked with President Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan "in the global war against extremism and terrorism. . . . We are working with the government of Pakistan. . .to establish the identity of the perpetrators and bring them to justice."

This is not the first deadly act of terrorism in Pakistan in the wake of the September 11^th attacks. Last month, eleven French engineers and two Pakistanis were killed by a suicide bomber in Karachi. And in March, a terrorist threw grenades inside the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, the capital. Five people were killed, including two Americans -- a U.S. embassy employee and her teenage daughter.

As President George W. Bush said after the latest terrorist attack in Pakistan, "We fight an enemy that are radical killers. . . . [T]hey claim they’re religious people and they blow up Muslims. They have no regard for individual life."

But as President Bush stressed, if these terrorists "think they’re going to intimidate the United States, they do not understand" the U.S. The U.S., he said, "will continue to hunt them down, and seek justice."