Twin suicide attacks on the US consulate in Peshawar and a rally leave 46 people dead
merisarkar news service
New Delhi, April 05, 2010
Suicide attacks rock the city, 46 killed
Taliban militants carried out an audacious attack on the US consulate in Peshawar, the capital of restive border state – North West Frontier Province on Monday.
The suicide bombers, dressed in battle fatigues, detonated car bombs, threw grenades and fired indiscriminately at security guards killing a police man and two guards employed by the embassy.
However, they could not enter the embassy premises and were gunned down by the police after a fierce gun battle.
In a separate incident, 43 people were killed and over 100 others injured in the suicide bombing in Timergara in lower Dir.
These people have gathered to celebrate the renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa.
The blast occurred at a rest house in the market of Timergara, the headquarters of Lower Dir district, where the ANP had organised the rally.
Just hours later, suicide bomber also targeted the US consulate in Peshawar.
Local media reports that six heavily-armed attackers came in two cars targeted the consulate office with grenades and indiscriminate fire
Bashir Bilour, a minister in the provincial government said, "The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn't succeed in getting there.
He said that militants were well-equipped and it was a well-organised attack.
Officials say that the terrorists were carrying a large amount of explosives and suicide jackets which were later defused by the police.
The US Embassy said in a statement in Islamabad that the "coordinated attack involved a vehicle suicide bomb and terrorists attempting to enter the (consulate) using grenades and weapons fire".
Two Pakistani security guards employed by the consulate were killed and "a number of others were seriously wounded", the statement said.
It also said no Americans were killed in the assault. The last attack on a US mission in Pakistan was in Karachi in 2006.
A spokesperson for the Pakistani Taliban claimed the responsibility for the attack and warned of more such attacks.
