"They lost their lives because of me."
Musharraf appeared on state television hours after Thursday's attack looking well and unruffled and vowed to step up his campaign against Islamic extremists, who he called "enemies of Islam and Pakistan."
He said it was still unclear exactly who was responsible, but added: "Certainly they are terrorists, extremists and wayward people...They are endangering Islam."
"We are fighting against terrorism. We will continue to fight it. It is my mission to take this country forward," he said. "My faith has strengthened, my resolve has increased. We will wipe out extremism."
He said his car came under attack when he was returning home to Rawalpindi from a meeting of ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in the adjoining capital, Islamabad.
"A suicide bomber first attacked me, but thank God nothing happened to us and we moved ahead," he said, adding that another car then tried to attack his limousine.
"I am sorry that 14 people lost their lives and more than 40 were wounded," he said. "They lost their lives because of me."
Musharraf said some people had said there had been a major security lapse, but he did not want to make any hasty comment.
"These are suicide bombers and to check them is not easy. They are like mobile bombs," he said. |
