A suicide car bomb targeted a US diplomatic vehicle in the volatile Pakistani city of Peshawar yesterday, killing two bystanders and wounding 19, including the passengers.
No one inside the car was killed by the huge morning blast, which left a crater in the road and toppled nearby walls. Television footage showed a burnt-out 4x4 vehicle at the scene, thought to be the one attacked.
Immediately after the explosion, the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province claimed four people had been killed, including two Americans. The US state department denied this, stating “two US personnel” and two Pakistani members of staff had been injured in the attack, which local police say involved more than 100kg of explosives.
One eyewitness said he saw a severely wounded foreigner being loaded into a vehicle. “No US consulate personnel were killed, but we are seeking further information about other victims of this heinous act,” the statement said.
Over the years the US consulate and its staff in the city, which is close to both the Afghan border and the semi-autonomous tribal areas that are home to a range of militant groups, have been attacked repeatedly. – (Guardian service)