Pakistani hotel blast toll rise to 19; Foreign aid agencies cease operations

The UN said that all but a skeleton staff had been immediately withdrawn from the frontier city of Peshawar while a full security assessment was carried out following the militant attack on the Pearl Continental hotel. Some non-government organisations imposed a ban on travel to the city. Officials said the opportunity to safely carry out humanitarian work in Pakistan was getting "constantly squeezed".

Besides UN agencies, the US consulate, other diplomatic missions and offices of international bodies in Peshawar suspended their activities and directed their staff to restrict their movements.

A meeting of top UN officials will be held on Monday to review the situation and decide on the resumption of relief work. The UN also evacuated its foreign staff members to Islamabad and local employees were asked to stay home till further orders, the reports said.

Meanwhile, the death toll of the Pearl Continental Hotel suicide blast climbed to 19 as more corpses including that of the General Manager and a captain of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) were recovered from the debris of the destroyed portion of the hotel on Wednesday.

An organization which calls itself Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade (AASB) has claimed responsibility of the Tuesday’s bomb blast at the Pearl Continental Hotel.