PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber on Monday rammed his explosives-laden car into an armoured-plated vehicle of the US Consulate General close to an UNHCR office in the University Town killing two persons and injuring 22 others, including two US personnel and four policemen, Dispatch News Desk (DND) reported on 03 September, 2012.
“We were piloting the vehicle of the US Consulate General while on way from the consulate to the American Club when it was targeted by the bomber,” a police official travelling in a vehicle escorting the diplomatic car told Dispatch News Desk (DND).
The spokesman of the capital police said the bomb disposal unit estimated that 110 kg of high-quality explosives were used in the attack.
A half-burnt copy of passport of an American national Capodicci Jr Vincent, of Connecticut, United States, was recovered from the destroyed diplomatic car. The injured American diplomats were first shifted to the American Club located in the posh University Town locality. Top government officials, including ministers and senior police officers, went to the site of the attack amid rain to examine the crime scene.
“We can confirm that a vehicle belonging to the US Consulate in Peshawar was hit in an apparent terrorist attack. Two US personnel and as many Pakistani staff of the consulate were injured and are receiving medical treatment,” said Toria Nuland, spokesperson for the US State Department.
The statement, forwarded by the US Embassy in Islamabad, insisted that no US Consulate General personnel were killed. It added: “We are seeking further information about other victims of this heinous act. We stand ready to work with Pakistani authorities on a full investigation so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice.”
DND