Pakistani security cameras showed today barriers were lowered at the entrance to Peshawar's top hotel just before militants drove into the forecourt and exploded a truck bomb, killing at least nine people, including two foreign UN workers.
Taliban militants have stepped up attacks in cities since the army launched a campaign in April to clear Taliban fighters from a stronghold in Swat and other parts of northwest Pakistan.
More than 1,300 militants and 105 soldiers have been killed in Swat, and the army's resolve has heartened US officials, who have been worried that nuclear-armed Pakistan could slide into chaos unless the Taliban's advance weren't stopped.
Today, the military said it launched an assault on militant positions in Bannu, after up to 800 militants infiltrated the district adjoining the Waziristan tribal region, another Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold.
The closed circuit television camera footage of last night's militant attack in Peshawar, however, will inevitably reinforce concerns over insecurity in Pakistan.
UN agencies issued statements saying five of their workers, including a Serbian man and Philippine woman and three Pakistanis, were among those killed in the assault on the Pearl Continental, a hotel popular with VIPs and foreigners visiting the capital of North West Frontier Province.
Qazi Jameel, a senior police official, said that nine people had been killed in the attack, and rescuers were still looking for more victims. There were more than 60 wounded, including a British and a Nigerian man, and a German woman.
The toll excludes dead militants and people still missing. There were conflicting reports on the number killed and some officials have given a higher toll.
Reuters