Bombing sparks evacuation
of embassy in Pakistan
Victims were carried away following the bombing outside
the Danish Embassy in Islamabad on Monday.
PHOTO: AAMIR QURESHI/AFPNorway's embassy in Islamabad was evacuated on Monday after the nearby Danish embassy was hit by a massive car bomb. The foreign ministry also issued a warning against travel to Pakistan.
 Police guarded the Norwegian Embassy in Islamabad when protests raged over caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. PHOTO: ARCHIVE |
"We're closing the embassy, and moving out all personnel," Aud Marit Wiig, Norway's ambassador to Pakistan, told Aftenposten.no.
A bulletin on the web site for the Norwegian Embassy in Pakistan also advised against any travel to the country that wasn't absolutely necessary. Norwegian citizens already in Pakistan were also advised to be cautious, especially in Islamabad and other large cities.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Oslo said staff was working to "gain an overview over the situation." At least eight deaths were reported by 11am Oslo time, with most of the victims believed to be Pakistanis.
The ministry could confirm some damage, mostly broken windows, at Norway’s own embassy after the explosion at the Danish Embassy nearby. No personnel at the Norwegian Embassy were injured.
The scene outside the embassies was described as chaotic. One of the victims was reportedly a locally employed security guard at the Danish embassy.
The Associated Press reported that a "huge" car bomb exploded outside the Danish Embassy in the Pakistani capital and that the blast echoed throughout Islamabad. It left a crater over a meter (three feet) deep in the road in front of the embassy. Shattered glass, fallen masonry and dozens of wrecked vehicles littered the area. People, some bloodied, ran back and forth in a state of panic.
An exterior wall of the embassy collapsed and its metal gate was blown inward but the embassy building itself remained intact, reported the AP. The office of a Pakistani development organization opposite the embassy was also badly damaged. Its roof had partly collapsed.
Denmark has faced threats at its embassies following the reprinting in Danish newspapers of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims generally consider depicting the prophet to be sacrilegious. Islamic militants have warned of reprisals.
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