There’s been a pattern of Islamic terrorists in the region targeting hotels. Here’s the latest attack.
Heavily armed gunmen attacked a luxury hotel in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, in an assault in which a Pakistani separatist group claimed to be targeting Chinese interests and warned of further violence.
“After more than 10 hours of continuous battle and achieving all their targets the BLA fighters have used their last bullets on them and have left this world,” said a Twitter post by what claims to be the official account of the separatist group, the Baluchistan Liberation Army.
It added: “Expect more attacks China and Pakistan.”
A Pakistani military official said that the gunmen had killed a security guard at the hotel entrance. The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad said that two other security agents had been wounded.
The hotel, the Zaver Pearl Continental in the city of Gwadar in Baluchistan Province, is frequently used by top government officials and Chinese workers employed on a port project in the area.
It’s nice that while conservatives are being banned, terrorists are able to enjoy the use of social media.
The BLA is in theory nationalistic and secular. But in practice, it’s been backed by Islamic countries, including Iran, and has links to the Pakistan Muslim League.
The BLA attack appears not to have worked all that well. And the hotel appears to be a less than thrilling vacation destination.
For a hotel of international standard and international clientele, I was beyond disappointed.
The bathrooms were unclean, the toilets weren’t flushing, and there was no toilet paper.