The United Nations says it has temporarily closed its offices in Pakistan following the attack on the World Food Program office in the capital of Islamabad.
UN spokesman Ishrat Rizvi said no specific threat had been received and the move was a precaution following Monday's attack that killed three people.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up in the lobby of the World Food Program in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Monday, killing three people and wounding several others, police and witnesses said.
The blast in the lobby of the heavily fortified and guarded building left victims lying on the ground in pools of blood and shattered windows, witnesses said.
Al-Qaida and Taliban militants have carried out scores of suicide attacks in Pakistan over the last 2 1/2 years, a number of them targeting foreigners and their interests. Under U.S. pressure, Pakistani security forces are targeting the extremists in their strongholds in the northwest.
Police officer Bin Yamin said the attacker was between 22 and 25 years old and detonated his explosives in the lobby.
He said three people were killed, including an Iraqi working for the WFP. Several others were injured, two of which were in a critical condition, the WFP said in a statement.
"I was on the upper floor when there was the sound of a huge explosion downstairs. I found many of my colleagues lying on the floor full of blood," said a WFP employee who declined to be named. "We immediately put the most critically wounded in a vehicle and rushed them to hospital."
The WFP is distributing food to poor Pakistanis, including those in the northwest who have been displaced or affected by a recent Pakistan army offensive against militants in the Swat Valley.
Source: AP News
