The 2002 Karachi bus bombing was one of a series of deadly strikes on

Westerners The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 2002. The blast killed 14 people and wounded another 40. The attack took place in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

, Sindh.

Details

On May 8, 2002, a man driving a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

stopped next to a bus in

outside the

Sheraton Hotel Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Cen ...

. He detonated the car, ripping the bus apart, and killing himself, 11

Frenchmen The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common Culture of France, French culture, History of France, history, and French language, language, identified with the cou ...

, and two

Pakistanis Pakistanis ( ur, , translit=Pākistānī Qaum, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the w ...

. The Frenchmen were engineers working with Pakistan to design an Agosta 90B-class submarine for the Pakistani Navy. About 40 others were wounded. The bombing occurred close to the Pearl-Continental Hotel where the

New Zealand national cricket team The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...

were staying as part of their tour of 2002. The team's physiotherapist Dayle Shackel received a minor cut to his forearm from flying glass. The tour was abandoned immediately with the team returning to New Zealand on the first available flight.

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

was blamed for the blast. On September 18, 2002, a man named Sharib Zubair, who was believed to have masterminded the attack, was arrested. In 2003, two men were sentenced to death for the bombing by a Karachi court. The suspected bombmaker, Mufti Mohammad Sabir, was arrested in Karachi on September 8, 2005. There were several convictions in the case, though Pakistani courts acquitted three defendants by 2009.

Karachigate

Contrary to official announcements by the Pakistani and the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

s at the time, it is now thought to be unlikely that those responsible for the attack had links to al-Qaeda. In 2007,

anti-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, assigned to lead the investigation into the bombing, was replaced by two investigating

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

s, Marc Trevidic and Renaud Van Ruymbeke. The former opened a new line in the investigation: that the attack was linked to the halting of kickback.Timeline: The Karachi bombing and kickback allegations
France 24. The resulting scandal has been dubbed "Karachigate".
''The Independent.'' An investigation is currently underway in France to establish the extent to which former

French Prime Minister The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, c ...

and former

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

were implicated in the sale of kickbacks to Pakistani officials. Sarkozy was allegedly involved in accepting kickbacks from Pakistan to fund the presidential campaign of Balladur. When

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to ...

came to power, he cancelled the Pakistani officials' kickbacks, angering many people in Pakistan.

References

External links

Suicide bomber kills 11 French engineers at Karachi hotel
(''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'')
Timeline: The Karachi bombing and kickback allegations
France 24. {{DEFAULTSORT:Karachi Bus Bombing, 2002 2002 murders in Pakistan 2002 in international relations 2002 bus bombing 21st-century mass murder in Pakistan Bus bombings in Asia France–Pakistan relations French terrorism victims Mass murder in 2002 2002 bus bombing May 2002 crimes May 2002 events in Asia Suicide bombings in 2002 2002 bus bombing Suicide car and truck bombings in Pakistan Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2002

Details

Karachigate

See also

References

External links