KOHAT, Pakistan — Scores of bloodied and bandaged victims filled hospital beds after a suicide car bomber destroyed a two-story hotel Friday in northwest Pakistan, killing 29 people and underscoring the relentless security threat to the region.
The blast on the outskirts of Kohat wounded 55 others. It was the second attack in two days in the area, which is close to Pakistan’s rugged border region with Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants hold sway.
The attack took place in the Shiite-dominated village of Usterzai, raising speculation that it might have been a sectarian assault by Sunni extremists. It occurred just days before Muslims from both sects celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Islamist militants also have staged bombings in public places in the northwest to warn locals against cooperating with security forces or to punish them for already doing so.
The Hikmat Ali Hotel, owned by a Shiite, was among several buildings destroyed or badly damaged, police official Asmat Ullah said. At least eight cars were mangled by the force of the blast, witnesses said.
Sunni extremist groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda think Shiites are infidels, and their influence in Pakistan in recent years has fueled sectarian attacks that have long plagued Pakistan.
Vegetable seller Madad Ali, injured in the explosion, said he saw the suicide bomber approaching.
“I was working when I saw a van come from the Kohat road. Inside was a man with a beard, and he blew himself up with a very powerful blast,” Ali said.
“The roof of the shop came in on me, and I was stuck underneath. People started to dig us out from the rubble.”
Pakistan has launched several offensives against extremist groups in the area over the past year, but attacks persist. The U.S. is particularly anxious for Pakistan to clamp down on insurgents it says are behind attacks on American and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack in Kohat, a garrison town about 40 miles south of Peshawar, Pakistan’s main northwestern city.
