Forty people have been killed, and some one hundred wounded, after a truck exploded in front of the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The power of the blast was significant, producing a 20ft crater and destroying the front of the hotel, the remaining section of which authorities fear could collapse. The significance of the Marriott as a target should not be overlooked. It is the most prestigious hotel in the capital and regularly frequently by foreigners.

Given what is occurring along the Waziristan frontier with regards to cross-border US military operations, the bombing of the Marriott could very well constitute blowback. Of course, many don’t like events of this nature being framed as such. It’s much easier to view them simply as the acts of madmen – and of course there is truth to that. But the timing, given the mounting tensions between the Pakistani military and the United States, should not be discounted.

Though we will probably never know, one has to wonder who was in the hotel at the time that may have represented a target.