A suicide bomber rammed his vehicles not the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan, killing two non-Americans and himself.
American officials said two Americans and two Pakistani workers were among 19 who were injured, and they denied Pakistani government reports that the Americans had been killed in the attack on the consulate in the city of Peshawar, located in northwest Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan.
The bomber’s 4 x 4 vehicle was packed with explosives, which police estimated weighed more than 200 pounds, and left a six-foot crater in the road.
Americans have been frequent targets for terrorists in the terror-infested region, and Monday’s attack was the third time in two years that terrorists, allied with Al Qaeda and Taliban, hit the consulate.
U.S. embassy official Richard Hoagland said, “In this dangerous world where terrorists can strike at any moment, we must all work together – Pakistanis and Americans alike – because we have a strong mutual interest in defeating terrorism.”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is in Indonesia as part of her tour in Asia, stated, “We pray for the safe recovery of both American and Pakistani victims and once again we deplore the cowardly act of suicide bombing and terrorism that has affected so many around the world.”
In a separate terrorist attack on NATO, armed men shot at three of its supply trucks headed for Afghanistan, wounding three drivers and setting two of the vehicles on fire.