Suicide bomber kills 5 at UN office in Pakistan (AP)

This bombing was the first of the same kind of attacks in Islamabad since June, when two police were killed. Two UN staffers were also killed during another blast in June on a hotel in the city of Pashawar.

Islamist militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq seeking to attack high-profile Western targets have shown no hesitation in targeting foreign humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations, regardless of the work they are doing in relieving the suffering in the countries.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told: "This is a heinous crime committed against those who have been working tirelessly to assist the poor and vulnerable on the front lines of hunger and other human suffering in Pakistan”.

Security camera footage broadcast on local TV shows the bomber walking through a door into what appears to be the main building carrying a two-foot- (half-meter-) long cylindrical object — possibly a detonator — in one hand. Seconds later, a bright flash fills the screen.

It was unclear how he made that far. Typically, visitors to U.N. buildings in Islamabad are screened and patted down for weapons and explosives in secure chambers some distance from the entrance to the building.

U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson condemned the targeting of aid workers as an attack against Pakistani society. "Such cruel acts expose the true nature of the terrorists' agenda," she said.

These actions will certainly provoke particular countermeasures by the UN officials. But the most important concern, apparently, will be the worries about the UN getting cold feet with help it has been providing to the poor in the region.

Considering the screening process at the UN arrival, the whole bombing may appeal to one as conducted with a cooperating partner within the UN staff.

There were two similar bombing attacks on Islamic Revolutionary Guards corps in Iran in which five guard commanders were killed among dozens of others. This took place in the restive region of the nation’s southeastern frontier with Pakistan.

Jundallah, whose members are Sunni Muslims, has claimed responsibility for other attacks in the region in recent years, and is believed to have killed hundreds of Iranian soldiers and civilians.

In this case again the corps was being guarded by Special Forces who have emerged as the most powerful political, social and economic bloc in the nation. Even during the aftermath of Iran’s contested presidential election, the Guards took control of national security.

The same skepticism strongly arises on how such specialized forces could be reckless enough not to notice a peril so as big as this coming. So, one may naturally think of an ally inside the guarding letting the outsiders in.