Incident Summary:
02/03/2003: At 11:40 am local time, a bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Pakistan State Oil headquarters in Karachi, killing one civilian and injuring two civilians. The bomb was planted on a scooter in the parking lot, and the explosion shattered a number of windows in surrounding buildings. The police obtained security tapes of the blast, and on 02/05/2003 announced that they believed that two perpetrators with Islamic extremist ties were behind the incident. One of them was identified as Mohammad Ismail, and he and another accomplice allegedly bought the scooter on which the bomb was planted on 01/12/2003. The Pakistani authorities drew comparisons of this incident with past bombings of Western interests in Karachi, ruled out Pakistan State Oil as the target, and suspected that extremist groups such as Lashkar-i-Jhangvi were responsible.
Overview
GTD ID:
200302030002
When:
2003-02-03
Country:
Pakistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Sindh
City:
Karachi
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Pakistan Retailers |
Specific Description |
Clifton Shopping Galleria, Karachi |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Pakistan State Oil |
Specific Description |
Pakistan State Oil Headquarters in Karachi |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Unknown Explosive Type |
Weapon Details |
Unknown explosives were used. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) officials did not believe that they were the targets of the attack because the scooter was parked far enough from the PSO building to cause little damage to the building. If the PSO was indeed the target, they argued, the bomb would have detonated much closer to the building, the bomb would have been bigger, and the bomb would have had to be planted at the front entrance instead of the parking lot. The parking lot is shared by both PSO and the Clifton Shopping Galleria. Several top Pakistani police officials have residences nearby, and a Provincial Police Chief suggested that top police officials may have been the target. The incident occurred in the district of Clifton, an upscale area of Karachi. Police on 02/05/2003 suspected that Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, an Islamic extremist group operating in Pakistan, may have been responsible for the attacks. Police also suspected that the home of a top counterterrorism official, Farooq Awan, may have been the target. Awan was responsible for several major arrests of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi members, including its leader Akram Lahori. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
Unknown |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
Unknown |
Total Number of Injured |
2 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
Unknown |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
Unknown |
Sources
Sources
Avaz Gul, "Bomb Kills 1, Injures Several Others in Pakistan," VOA News, February 3, 2003. |
"Islamic extremists suspected in motorcycle blast," AFP, February 5, 2003. |
Mazhar Abbas, "One dead after bomb in Pakistan port city," AFP, February 3, 2003. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties