ISLAMABAD Pakistan on Sunday blamed Al Qaeda linked Taliban militants for the massive suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 260.

Footage of Saturday nights attack showed the carnage could have been far worse, but the attacker failed to get through a secondary barrier when he crashed his explosives-laden truck into the hotels security gates.

The interior ministry said the truck was packed with 600 kilos of explosives, and pointed a finger at Taliban militants allied with Al Qaeda who are based in the remote areas along the border with Afghanistan.

'All roads lead to Fata,' ministry official Rehman Mailk told a news conference, using the acronym for the tribal areas.

'It has the hallmarks of Al Qaeda,' a senior official involved in the investigation told AFP. 'It was an Al Qaeda style bombing.'

Malik said 53 people were killed and 266 were injured in the attack. The security official said at least 60 people were dead.

Rescuers were continuing to pick through the rubble of the hotel, which was all but destroyed in the massive blast — heard for miles around — and a subsequent fire that swept through the 300-room hotel.

The bombing came on the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Ladens call for Pakistani Muslims to unleash jihad or holy war against the government, a vital ally in the US-led 'war on terror.'

Closed-circuit footage showed that the attacker rammed his truck into the gates but failed to get through a second barrier which is raised again after each vehicle enters the heavily secured complex.

Malik said the attacker intended to drive right into the lobby of the hotel. He apparently tried to convince the guards to lower the second barrier — and when they would not, he blew himself up in the trucks cabin.

The guards then tried to put out the fire in the truck, and it was several minutes before the second, larger blast devastated the Marriott.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the latest attack in a wave of militant violence that has killed nearly 1,300 people this year.