MORE ON PEARL CONTINENTAL EXPLOSION

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 PESHAWAR 000126 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/11/2019 TAGS: PTER ASEC ABLD PGOV MOPS CASC PK SUBJECT: MORE ON PEARL CONTINENTAL EXPLOSION REF: PESHAWAR 125 CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne Tracy, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate Peshawar, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (S/NF) Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) Inspector General Police Malik Naveed told Consulate officials June 11 that no physical trace of the bombers or leads to their identities has yet been recovered from the June 9 attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel. PC security guards are in custody and being questioned. A previously unknown group, Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, has claimed responsibility for the attack, adding to the murkiness of sifting through possible suspects. According to Naveed, the attackers had attempted to enter the residence of 11th Corps Commander General Masood which is adjacent to the PC. There was substantial physical damage to nearby properties. The death toll, based on those identified, is now being estimated at nine. Peshawar Capitol City Police Chief Sifwat Ghayyur is leading the investigation, and there are continuing hints that Naveed may be replaced as IGP. End Summary. Condolences and Assistance -------------- ¶2. (C) Peshawar Principal Officer and Regional Security Officer (RSO) met with IGP Naveed to offer condolences and renew the U.S. offer of assistance. PO noted that the offer of the FBI team which had been earlier accepted had been subsequently turned down. Naveed was unaware of the decision to turn off the FBI visit and promised to look into the matter. No Trace of Bombers -------------- ¶3. (C) Naveed briefed on the status of the investigation. Police, he said, were still looking for the remains of three individuals who had been in the two vehicles that entered the hotel premises just before the explosion. Nothing, however, had been recovered yet that might provide leads into their identities. ¶4. (C) Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade, the group now claiming responsibility, was unknown to him. Azzam, he said, however, was certainly a familiar figure before his assassination in Peshawar in 1989 because of the high profile role he played in organizing support for the jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and as a mentor to Osama bin Ladin. (Note: Ayman al-Zawahiri has been blamed for Azzam's death as part of a struggle for influence over bin Ladin.) Other Targets? -------------- ¶5. (C) According to Naveed, the 11th Corps Commander's residence may also have been a target of the attackers. The vehicles of the attackers had been stopped at a checkpoint on the Khyber Road (approximately a quarter of a mile west of the PC entrance) just outside the gate of the 11th Corps Commander's residence. The vehicles tried to gain entry to the residence, Naveed said, but were turned away and then proceeded to the PC entrance. (Note: It is unclear if Corps Commander General Masood or his family were home at the time.) Damage Impact -------------- ¶6. (C) The IGP commented that the 11th Corps Commander's residence sustained extensive damage. All windows were shattered and doors were blown off of their hinges. A portion of the boundary wall between the PC and the residence grounds collapsed. The IGP's residence which is further down Khyber Road to the west lost all of its windows. The IGP and his family who were home at the time were not injured. Walls of government buildings opposite the PC, including the judicial complex, are reportedly showing cracks. Over 40 vehicles in the PC's parking area were destroyed. ¶7. (C) RSO asked about reports that 500 kg of explosives were PESHAWAR 00000126 002 OF 002 used, noting that such an amount would likely have leveled the hotel as well as other buildings in the vicinity. Naveed responded that traces of RDX (also known as cyclonite, hexogen, and T4; forms the base for a number of common military explosives) and urea had been found at the scene but acknowledged that the weight estimate included components that may not have been explosive elements. Assigning Blame -------------- ¶8. (S/NF) Police, Naveed said, are investigating possible complicity of hotel security guards in the attack. Other Peshawar sources report that two guards are in custody and being questioned. PC owner Sadruddin Hashwani, who announced publicly that he will rebuild the PC within two months, defended the PC's security measures. He accused the local government of not doing enough in the vicinity of the hotel that could have helped prevent the attack. Death Toll Estimate Changing -------------- ¶9. (C) PO asked about the death toll, noting the conflicting estimates from officials in the public domain. Naveed said that the police had revised the number of dead down to nine. (Note: This estimate appears to be based on bodies recovered but does not include the attackers. According to local press accounts, the following were killed in the blast -- PC General Manager Syed Kamal Shah, PC Manager Lali Jan, PC security guard Shehzada Khan, PIA Captain Mohammad Mamsa, UNHCR's Aleksandr Vorkapic, UNICEF's Perseveranda So, and three local UN staff.) Comment -------------- ¶10. (S/NF) Military personnel have been targeted by militants in the past, and a direct hit on the Corps Commander would have had as much if not more symbolic value than the PC. It would also, however, have poked a finger in the eye of the military at a level we have not seen since the assassination attempts on former president Musharraf in 2003. The shifting alliances and rivalries among militant leaders in the Waziristans, as well as the appearance of the hitherto unknown Azzam Brigade, make discerning motivations and responsibility for the PC bombing a murky endeavor. ¶11. (C) The IGP's office was unnaturally quiet two days after such a high profile bombing. Naveed told us that Capitol City Police Chief Sifwat Ghayyur is heading up the PC bombing investigation. Talk has been circulating of replacing Naveed in the wake of operations in Buner and Swat, where the police force has almost completely collapsed. Ghayyur, who has a not undeserved reputation for being ruthless and efficient, has appeared publicly with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder leading police officers on operations around Peshawar. Even his friends acknowledge that it may be hard to save Naveed. Awami National Party deputy leader Afrasiab Khattak who is a school classmate of Naveed's told PO recently that Naveed may be out because of Ghayyur's public appeal as a "tough" Pashtun leader. While that quality has its advantages, it is at best unclear if we could expect the same level of cooperation and access from Ghayyur that we have had from Naveed. The PC bombing may be the event that pushes Naveed out the door. TRACY