PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into an SUV belonging to the United States Consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday morning in one of the most brazen attacks against Americans in the country in recent years, Pakistani and American officials said.
[h=6]Mohammad Sajjad/Associated Press[/h]Rescue workers and security personnel at the site of a bombing in Peshawar on Monday.
There were conflicting reports about the number and nationality of the casualties. Pakistani officials said at least two people were killed and at least 13 were injured. The United States Embassy in Islamabad confirmed the attack but denied that any American was killed in the assault. A statement by the embassy stated that “no U.S. Consulate personnel were killed.”
“Two U.S. personnel and two Pakistani staff were injured,” the embassy said.
A senior Pakistani government official said that two Pakistanis were killed but denied an earlier statement by local officials that Americans had also died.
“The Americans were traveling in an armored SUV and survived the attack,” the Pakistani official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said an American backup vehicle immediately retrieved the wounded Americans and took them to the consulate.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the University Town neighborhood of Peshawar, the provincial capital of restive Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. Immediate suspicion pointed toward the Taliban, who have repeatedly vowed to attack Americans in the country.
The American vehicle had left the heavily guarded and fortified consulate building and was passing a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees guesthouse on Abdara Road when it was rammed by a vehicle containing at least 200 pounds of explosives, according to police officials.
A thick plume of smoke rose over the site after the explosion and could be seen a mile away. The blast left a crater five feet wide in the road.
Firefighters evacuated the injured and doused the burning SUV, which carried a diplomatic corps registration number. A partially burned American passport was recovered from the vehicle. The wounded including two police officers and 11 passers-by.
The attack took place close to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in University Town, a residential area that also includes the residence of the United States consulate general in Peshawar and several houses of American diplomats and foreign staff and the offices and residences of some international aid agencies.
Police officials quoting witnesses said that at least one of those in the American vehicle appeared to be dead.
Police officials said that they had issued prior warnings of a possible terrorist attack and had stepped up surveillance. The consulate was closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
American diplomatic personnel in Peshawar have been the target of previous attacks, including one on the heavily guarded consulate in April 2010.
“We stand ready to work with Pakistani authorities on a full investigation so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice,” the embassy said.
Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.
[h=6]Mohammad Sajjad/Associated Press[/h]Rescue workers and security personnel at the site of a bombing in Peshawar on Monday.
There were conflicting reports about the number and nationality of the casualties. Pakistani officials said at least two people were killed and at least 13 were injured. The United States Embassy in Islamabad confirmed the attack but denied that any American was killed in the assault. A statement by the embassy stated that “no U.S. Consulate personnel were killed.”
“Two U.S. personnel and two Pakistani staff were injured,” the embassy said.
A senior Pakistani government official said that two Pakistanis were killed but denied an earlier statement by local officials that Americans had also died.
“The Americans were traveling in an armored SUV and survived the attack,” the Pakistani official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said an American backup vehicle immediately retrieved the wounded Americans and took them to the consulate.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the University Town neighborhood of Peshawar, the provincial capital of restive Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. Immediate suspicion pointed toward the Taliban, who have repeatedly vowed to attack Americans in the country.
The American vehicle had left the heavily guarded and fortified consulate building and was passing a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees guesthouse on Abdara Road when it was rammed by a vehicle containing at least 200 pounds of explosives, according to police officials.
A thick plume of smoke rose over the site after the explosion and could be seen a mile away. The blast left a crater five feet wide in the road.
Firefighters evacuated the injured and doused the burning SUV, which carried a diplomatic corps registration number. A partially burned American passport was recovered from the vehicle. The wounded including two police officers and 11 passers-by.
The attack took place close to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in University Town, a residential area that also includes the residence of the United States consulate general in Peshawar and several houses of American diplomats and foreign staff and the offices and residences of some international aid agencies.
Police officials quoting witnesses said that at least one of those in the American vehicle appeared to be dead.
Police officials said that they had issued prior warnings of a possible terrorist attack and had stepped up surveillance. The consulate was closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
American diplomatic personnel in Peshawar have been the target of previous attacks, including one on the heavily guarded consulate in April 2010.
“We stand ready to work with Pakistani authorities on a full investigation so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice,” the embassy said.
Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.