Monday, September 3, 2012

US consulate workers hurt in Pakistan blast

Mushtaq Yusufzai / NBC News

A burnt-out vehicle at the site where a suicide bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into a U.S. government vehicle in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, on Monday.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Four U.S. consulate workers were seriously injured and five other people killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into a U.S. government vehicle in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan Monday, officials told NBC News.

The four injured were two Americans and two Pakistanis, a U.S. Embassy spokesman said.

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"We can confirm that a vehicle belonging to the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar was hit in an apparent terrorist attack," the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said in a statement.

The statement added:

"Two U.S. personnel and two Pakistani staff of the Consulate were injured and are receiving medical treatment.? No U.S. Consulate personnel were killed, but we are seeking further information about other victims of this heinous act.? We stand ready to work with Pakistani authorities on a full investigation so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice."?

Regional Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain had earlier told reporters that two of the dead were Americans working for the nearby U.S. consulate.

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The dead and injured were taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, said Umar Ayub, the chief executive of the hospital.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

The attack took place in area of the city, near the Afghan border, which hosts several foreign organizations, including the United Nations.

Local television footage showed an SUV at the site that was completely destroyed and burned, and an image of a U.S. passport at the scene, its corners burned by the flames.

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There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan's Taliban, who are close to al-Qaida, are blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally.

The daring Navy SEAL raid that ended in the death of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden came close to failing, according to excerpts of a new book written by one of the U.S. commandos who took part in the assault on the compound deep inside Pakistan. NBC's Mike Viqueira reports.

Those attacks had eased in recent months but it was not clear if the lull was due to pressure from military offensives or a shift in tactics.

Fakhar Rehman, NBC News, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/03/13630663-four-us-consulate-workers-seriously-hurt-in-pakistan-suicide-blast?lite

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