Pakistani hotel bomb blast kills 11

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 9 (UPI) -- Three men in a bomb-laden minivan set off a huge explosion at a five-star hotel in Peshawar, killing 11 people and injuring dozens, Pakistani officials said.

The blast at the Pearl Continental Hotel Tuesday was the latest in a series of similar attacks in the past month in Pakistan, whose military is involved in a major offensive against Taliban militants in the Northwest Frontier province of which Peshawar is the capital.

Bomb disposal squad members told CNN the bomb contained about 1,100 pounds of explosives.

At least one foreigner was among those killed and the United Nations identified him as Aleksander Vorkapic with the U.N. refugee agency, the U.N. News Center reported.

The news agency said Vorkapic had been involved with a team to help in the rehabilitation of millions of people displaced by the fighting in the northwest.

"Once again, a dedicated staff member of the United Nations is among the victims of a heinous terrorist attack which no cause can justify," a U.N. statement said.

CNN quoted a Peshawar official that a Nigerian national who worked for the United Nations also died in the blast. The report said at least 40 people were wounded, but some Pakistani media reports said more than 60 were injured.

Those injured included citizens of the United Kingdom, Somalia, Germany and Madagascar, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported.

CNN said the explosion severely damaged the hotel, which is frequented by foreigners and diplomats. Several dozen cars in the parking lot also were destroyed. Dawn reported the explosion created a 16-foot by 15-foot crater.

Dawn quoted police as saying the militants first launched a frontal assault on the hotel's main entrance, killing the security guards. Later, they lowered an electronic barrier to permit the entry of their vehicle.

"A mini-truck laden with explosives then entered the hotel premises and exploded in the main parking lot close to the main building," Police Chief Safwat Ghayyir told Dawn.

One security guard said the militants wore military uniforms.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but one security official told Dawn it appeared to have been planned by the same group responsible for an attack last month in Lahore that killed 23 people.

The Taliban has vowed to stage such attacks against civilian and government targets in retaliation for the military offensive.