The death toll in a huge blast near Danish embassy in F-6 II area in the Red Zone of the federal capital Islamabad on Monday has reached to eight, while seven wounded said to be in a critical condition.

The car blast near the Denmark embassy damaged a boundary wall of the building, while nearby UNDP office premises were also damaged in the blast.

According to sources 10 to 15 kilogram explosives were used in the blast, which also shattered the vehicles parked in the area.

Huge clouds of smoke were seen over the area. The blast created four feet deep crater sources said.

Police have cordoned off the area to collect evidence about the incident.

Relief operations were underway and the wounded being transferred to hospitals.

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The ambulances were seen rushing to the area where the blast was heard.

Security forces have cordoned off the area. Ten injured have been shifted to CMH Rawalpindi.

Considering the fact that a large majority of the inhabitants belong to other cities who leave towards the end of Ramazan to celebrate the event with their families, this Eid too is not going to be any different.

From government officials to businessmen, from bureaucrats to politicians, everybody who is anybody will be heading to their hometowns many miles away. Islamabad, which has been their base throughout the year, would have to take a back seat for the few days of Eid.

This would leave very few people staying back in town to celebrate a festival often termed ‘boring’ by these residents, for there is hardly anything to do except for visiting close relatives. Children find the event fun, although there is not much for them to do either.

For almost an entire week, shops and other businesses remain shut, public transport is non-existent, traffic is pleasant and the roads all of a sudden begin to look wide and inviting, a picture in contrast to all the vehicles that dot the avenues throughout the year.

For Nadeem Qureshi, who has lived in Islamabad for three decades, the days of Eid are a reminder of what the town used to be originally. “The traffic was as thin as we get to see only during Eid now,” he pointed out. “Those were good old days when the city’s sleepy tag held true but it is not so any longer,” he remarked.

Clearly, that label of being a ghost town is relived now only during the course of Eid to some extent for the Islamabad of today is so full of life on normal days – abounding with life and death, so to speak.

So intense, yet brutal has been the action on Islamabad’s streets that the entire world was forced to take notice. The Lal Masjid operation, subsequent suicide blasts, ruthless baton charges by police on lawyers and journalists and a host of other events only went to show that this town is not what it used to be.

But come Eid, all actions and reactions would cease, thereby providing a much-needed breather to the players involved in the political game and others associated with the events in town.

“The Eid holidays are something everyone looks forward to, the security people more so, especially after the past few months that have kept us extremely busy,” said an official of the district administration, not wanting to be named. Soon it would be time for the ‘outsiders’ to head home bringing the curtain down on what have been eventful months that brought more bad news than good for the people.

However, this Eid just might help wash away all the bad memories.

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A fleet of at least eight cars was pressed into action to patrol the length of the road following complaints that it had become a racetrack, especially after 11.00 pm.

Several senior patrolling officers of the ITP were seen on duty well past midnight for the first time on this avenue that was inaugurated on August 13.

With no signals and intersections, motorists and motorcyclists often find the road tempting to over speed and indulge in other unsafe acts that endanger the lives of other people as well as their own.

But Traffic Police Deputy Superintendent Hasan Raza warned motorcycle acrobats and reckless drivers to mend their ways and said that night patrols would continue from now on.

A heavy presence of the traffic police scared away motorbike riders who had made the road their very own after 11.00 pm everyday. “On seeing the police cars, they do not dare to come on,” the official said.

Motorcyclists are mainly from sectors G-6 and G-7 that border one stretch of the avenue and had become a headache for disciplined road users. They would often perform one wheeling and do a host of other dangerous manoeuvres, much to the annoyance of the people.

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