Peshawar bomb victim
AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad

Wounded Pakistani men are seen after an explosion in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 9, 2009.

When word came that foreigners were injured in today's bombing of a luxury hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan, the question came to mind: what foreigners would stay in a hotel in Peshawar which is close to the Afghan border and in the dangerous Federally Administered Tribal Area? The answer: aid workers.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports the following:

A large bomb that exploded at a luxury hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan has claimed the lives of at least eleven people and left dozens more wounded today. Officials say militants attacked the Pearl Continental Hotel, popular with foreigners, with guns and a truck bomb. Intelligence officials say it appears some of the attackers were also able to scale the wall of the hotel and enter a compound and open fire just before the bomb went off. Dozens of cars were also destroyed by the blast. The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks in Pakistan which officials say appear to be in retaliation for an offensive against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley.

 

The Associated Press reports on the presence of foreign aid workers there:

An AP reporter saw six foreigners being helped out of the hotel. They all had wounds and at least two of them had bandages around their heads. One of them said, "We work for UNHCR," referring to the U.N.'s refugee organization. He also said that officials from U.N.'s World Food Program were also staying at the hotel.

Amjad Jamal, spokesman for the World Food Program in Pakistan, said more than 25 U.N. workers were staying at the hotel when the attack occurred. He said all seven WFP workers were safe, but he could not speak for other U.N. agencies. Calls to the U.N. refugee agency were not immediately answered.