US consulate vehicles attacked in Pakistan

• Roadside bomb explodes near vehicles in Peshawar • One passerby dies but US consulate staff escape unharmed • Pakistan Taliban claims responsibility for the attack A roadside bomb exploded near a pair of US consulate vehicles carrying Americans in Peshawar, north-west Pakistan, on Friday, killing a Pakistani passerby and wounding several people including some of the passengers, officials said. The Pakistan Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack. In the wake of the 2 May US raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden elsewhere in Pakistan’s north-west, militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban have vowed revenge attacks including those targeting Americans in Pakistan. A US embassy spokesman, Alberto Rodriguez, said some of the Americans in the vehicle were only slightly wounded, and that only one of the vehicles was damaged during the attack. No high-ranking US official was in the vehicles, which were making routine trips to and from the consulate. Footage from the scene showed that the car apparently hit was a large, SUV. It appeared to have veered into a pole and the bonnet was damaged. Senior police official Shafi Ullah said the vehicle was bulletproof. Nearby buildings also were damaged during the blast. The US consulate in Peshawar is widely believed to be a front for CIA operations, and its employees have been targeted in the past. In August 2008, Lynne Tracy, then the top US diplomat at the consulate, survived a gun attack on her armoured vehicle. Peshawar lies just outside Pakistan’s tribal regions, where al-Qaida and the Taliban have long had hideouts. The city itself has witnessed numerous suicide and other bombings in recent years, including many that have killed security forces and ordinary civilians. The Bin Laden raid in Abbottabad has badly soured Pakistan-US relations. Pakistan is angry it was not warned in advance that the navy Seals would storm the compound, and insists it had no idea that Bin Laden was hiding there. US officials have visited Pakistan in recent days to try to patch up differences. Pakistan Taliban Osama bin Laden United States US foreign policy guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 20, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.