page_title: Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
section_title: Islamabad Marriott Hotel Bombing
hierarchical_section_title: Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa / Escalation, air and ground war / Islamabad Marriott Hotel Bombing
caption_attribution_description: English: The Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan shortly after a massive truck bomb detonated just outside the entrance on September 20, 2008.
context_page_description: The insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as the War in North-West Pakistan, is an armed conflict involving Pakistan, and armed militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jundallah, Lashkar-e-Islam, TNSM, al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the ISIL–Khorasan, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Movement, Emirate of Caucasus, and elements of organized crime.
  The armed conflict began in 2004 when tensions rooted in the Pakistan Army's search for al-Qaeda fighters in Pakistan's mountainous Waziristan area escalated into armed resistance. Pakistan's actions were presented as its contribution to the international War on Terror. Clashes further erupted between unified Pakistan Armed Forces and the Central Asian militant groups, allied with the Arab fighters, in 2008–10. The foreign militants were joined by Pakistani non-military veterans of the Afghan War to the west, which subsequently established the TTP and other militant umbrella organizations, such as LeI. The TNSM established in 1992 allied with the TTP and LeI.
context_section_description: In 2008, the al-Qaeda struck its largest terrorist attack in Islamabad when a truck bomb targeted the Marriott Hotel. This attack was a defining moment in the war; 54 people were killed and around 266 others injured. According to the testimonies, numbers of U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy personnel also died in the attack; many believed the Americans were the target of the terrorist attacks. In a response to attack on 23 September 2008, the PAF launched its aerial bombing mission which resulted in ultimate success. Military reports indicating that more than 60 insurgents were killed in northwest Pakistan. In the nearby Bajur tribal region, the air force strikes killed at least 10 militants, according to government officials. The Bajur operations, which the army said left more than 700 suspected militants dead, won praise from U.S. officials.
caption: View of the Marriot hotel after the 2008 bombing.
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