Incident Summary:
01/15/2004: Two explosions occurred outside an Anglican church in Karachi, Pakistan. First, a man on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade outside the office of the Christian Bible Society, adjacent to Trinity Church. Then approximately fifteen minutes later, while security personnel were surveying the detonation site, a bomb hidden in a stolen car outside the church went off as well. Fifteen people, two workers of Bible Society, three soldiers belonging to the paramilitary rangers, an army officer and at least two police officials and a number of passersby were injured, but there were no fatalities. Several parked cars were set ablaze and there was shattered glass and damage to one of the boundary walls of the church.
Overview
GTD ID:
200401150001
When:
2004-01-15
Country:
Pakistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Sindh
City:
Karachi
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Military |
Name of Entity |
Pakistan Police |
Specific Description |
Police and other security officers who responded to the first bombing incident |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Civilians |
Specific Description |
Churchgoers and passersby at the incident site |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Target Type: Religious Figures/Institutions |
Name of Entity |
Christian Bible Society |
Specific Description |
Christian Bible Society office in Karachi |
Nationality of Target |
Pakistan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Vehicle |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Weapon Details |
The bomb disposal squad said that car weighed at least eight to nine kg (18-20 pounds) and that the bomb was locally manufactured. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Police had received an anonymous phone warning that the Bible Society would be targeted. Witnesses stated that at least two perpetrators were involved in the attack. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 15 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
15 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Mujahid Ali, "Twin Blasts Target Anglican Church," Gulf News, January 16, 2004. |
"Car bomb explodes outside Bible society in Pakistan city, injuring 15," The Halifax Daily News, January 16, 2004. |
Afzal Nadeem, "Terrorists detonate car bomb at Pakistani Christian Centre," Times Colonist, January 16, 2004. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties