Taliban Claim Attack on US Consulate in Peshawar
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack on the US Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan. The attack included a vehicular suicide bomber and two attackers who tried to enter the compound using grenades. All US citizens were accounted for; some suffered minor injuries. At least six were killed, including two Pakistani consulate employees.
US and Pakistani governments have released statements condemning the attacks which followed hours after a separate suicide bomber detonated in another part of the North West Frontier Province killing over 30 people. The Pakistani Taliban also claimed credit for this attack. Embassy officials and security forces have restored order around the consulate, noting that the attack was well armed and coordinated.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told Reuters news service that “Americans are our enemies. We carried out the attack on their consulate in Peshawar. We plan more such attacks.” The attack on the consulate was the first attack against a US target in four years; in 2006, a US diplomat was killed by a vehicle suicide bomber near the US consulate in Karachi.
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