ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The suicide car bomb attack on a U.S. government vehicle in northwestern Pakistan on Monday that killed two Pakistanis was a “heinous act” against Americans working in a city perched on the edge of the country’s militant-infested tribal areas, U.S. officials said.
The vehicle belonging to the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar was attacked as it traveled through University Town, an upscale Peshawar neighborhood where several international organizations maintain offices. No U.S. citizens or staff members of the consulate were killed, but two American staff members and two Pakistani nationals who work at the facility were injured, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
An additional 21 people were injured in the attack, Pakistani authorities said.
No one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack. Nuland called the attack a “heinous act” and said the U.S. was ready “to work with Pakistani authorities on a full investigation so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice.”
Many of the suicide bombings and other terrorist acts in Peshawar have been carried out by the Pakistani Taliban, the domestic insurgent group that for years has been attacking security installations along with markets, mosques and other civilian targets.
In recent years, the Pakistani Taliban has expanded its agenda to include Western targets and was involved in an attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square in 2010.
