Gunmen shot dead a US aid worker and his local driver in Pakistan’s volatile north west today.
The attack occurred in University Town, a wealthy area of Peshawar where a top US diplomat was attacked just a few months ago, police official Arshad Khan said.
US Embassy acting spokesman Wes Robertson declined to identify the American or say what he was doing in the area other than to say he was not a diplomat.
But a Western security official in Peshawar said the murdered American worked for a development organisation with projects in the north west.
He said the American’s car was blocked in a narrow lane by the attackers’ vehicle. Gunmen then opened fire with automatic weapons.
Pockets of Pakistan’s north west have become safe havens for al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives involved in attacks on US and Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.
Peshawar has been hit with suicide bombings and other violence.
In August, Lynne Tracy, the top US diplomat in north-western Pakistan, narrowly survived a gun attack on her armoured vehicle in the University Town area.
Earlier this year, Pakistan staged a military operation in a nearby Khyber tribal region after concerns about rising militant activity around the dusty, sprawling city.
AP