Pakistan

Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Danish embassy bombing

Article published on the 2008-06-05 Latest update 2008-06-05 09:13 TU

Police at the blast site
(Photo: Reuters)

In an internet statement, al-Qaeda has claimed it carried out Monday’s suicide attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, according to SITE, a US-based group that monitors Islamic militant websites. The attack was “in revenge against the state of infidelity called ‘Denmark’ that posted cartoons hostile to the messenger of Allah,” said the statement.

“One of the heroes of the ‘Qaedat al-Jihad' carried out a suicide operation” on Monday, said the statement, which was signed by Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, an al-Qaeda leader, and posted on Wednesday on several online forms.

“This operation is a warning to the infidel state and those who ride with it… so that they apologise for what they did.”

Danish newspapers published controversial cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed in 2005, which sparked protests around the Muslim world.

Monday’s blast killed at least six people and damaged the embassy building and the nearby offices of an aid agency. The Danish intelligence service, PET, said in a statement that preliminary investigations show that the attack had been planned “for a long time with precision”.