U.S. Vehicle Rammed by Suicide Bomber in Pakistan
By ISMAIL KHAN and SALMAN MASOOD
Khuram Parvez/Reuters
Rescue personnel worked at the site of the blast in Peshawar on Monday.
A suicide bomber rammed into an SUV belonging to the U.S. Consulate in
the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday morning, and reports of
American casualties were conflicting.
U.S. Vehicle Rammed by Suicide Bomber in Pakistan
Khuram Parvez/Reuters
Rescue personnel worked at the site of the blast in Peshawar on Monday.
By ISMAIL KHAN and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: September 3, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden
vehicle into a sport-utility vehicle belonging to the United States
Consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday morning,
Pakistani and American officials said, in one of the most brazen attacks
against Americans in the country in recent years.
Mohammad Sajjad/Associated Press
Immediate suspicion for the blast pointed toward the Taliban.
There were conflicting reports about the number and nationality of the
casualties. Pakistani officials said that at least two people were
killed and at least 13 were injured, including two police officers. The
United States Embassy in Islamabad confirmed the attack and said in a
statement that two Americans and two Pakistani employees of the
consulate were injured. It denied early reports that an American had
been killed.
A senior Pakistani government official, speaking on the condition of
anonymity, said that an American backup vehicle immediately retrieved
the four who were wounded inside the S.U.V. and took them to the
consulate. The official said two Pakistanis were killed outside the
vehicle.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which
took place in Peshawar, the provincial capital of the restive Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Province, in a residential area called University Town. It
is home to the United States consulate general in Peshawar and American
diplomats, as well as workers with international aid agencies, some of
which have offices there.
Immediate suspicion pointed toward the Taliban, who have repeatedly vowed to attack Americans in the country.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, visiting Indonesia, condemned
the attack. “We pray for the safe recovery of American and Pakistani
victims, and once again we deplore the cowardly act of suicide bombing
and terrorism that has affected so many people around the world.”
The State Department’s spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, who is traveling
with Mrs. Clinton, said the extent of the victims’ injuries was not
immediately known. She said she did not have complete information on
casualties outside the vehicle.
“We stand ready to work with Pakistani authorities on a full
investigation, so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice,” Ms.
Nuland said.
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, police officials said. A
thick plume of smoke rose over the site after the explosion that could
be seen a mile away. The blast left a five-foot-wide crater in the road.
Firefighters evacuated the injured and doused the burning S.U.V., which
carried a diplomatic-corps registration number. A partially burned
American passport was recovered from the vehicle.
Police officials said that they had issued warnings of a possible
terrorist attack in the city 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.
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