Taliban attack US convoy in north-west Pakistan
A Taliban attack on a US consulate convoy in Pakistan’s volatile north-western city of Peshawar on Friday killed one person and wounded 11 others. The attack is the first on US citizens since the death of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on 2 May.
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Witnesses say a US consulate car skidded off the road after the early morning blast and smashed into an electricity pylon on a pedestrian footpath. A local man riding on a motorbike was killed.
A bomb disposal official said the bomb contained 50 kilos of low-grade explosives packed into a car and detonated by remote control.
The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened more against Western targets.
“Our first enemy is Pakistan, then the United States and after that other Nato countries,” said Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan.
Friday’s attack comes exactly one week after the Taliban claimed a devastating bomb attack that killed 98 people outside a police training centre in the north-west as revenge for bin Laden’s death.
On Thursday, US special envoy Marc Grossman held talks with Pakistan’s leadership in Islamabad, stepping up efforts to smooth over a crisis sparked by the US Navy Seals raid that killed the al-Qaeda chief.
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