Islamist militants armed with guns, grenades and suicide car bombs targeted the US consulate in Pakistan’s northwestern capital and a political rally, killing 51 people on Monday.
The attacks in quick succession were among the deadliest so far this year in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where insecurity has raised concerns in the US as Washington steps up the fight in Afghanistan and against al-Qaeda.
Pakistan’s Taliban claimed responsibility for the consulate attack, saying it was to avenge a US drone war targeting top militants in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan, and threatened further assaults on Americans.
The UN yesterday announced a two-day closure of its offices in Peshawar, citing security fears following the attack.
“For security reasons, United Nations’ offices in Peshawar have closed temporarily for two days,” UN spokeswoman Ishrat Rizvi said. “We took this step as a precautionary measure and for the protection of our staff, we have advised them to work from home for two days. This step was taken because of security fears.”
That heavily armed militants managed to approach the US mission underscored the potency of their threat despite stepped-up Pakistani offensives and US drone attacks focused on Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked commanders.
Five security officials were killed when at least eight militants armed with guns, grenades and two car bombs targeted the heavily guarded US consulate in Peshawar, a city of 2.5 million on the edge of Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt.
“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the assault on our consulate in Peshawar,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. “The assault this morning is part of a wave of violence perpetrated by brutal extremists who seek to undermine Pakistan’s democracy and sow fear and discord.”
The US said at least two Pakistani security guards employed by the consulate were killed and a number of others seriously wounded, but that no Americans died.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari vowed to parliament on Monday: “Militancy and extremism have been the greatest threat to our national security in recent times. I assure you we will fight militancy to the finish.”
Police said two car bombs exploded — at a checkpoint 50m from the mission and the second laden with about 100kg of explosives close to the consulate gate, followed by an exchange of fire.
North West Frontier Province information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters that five security officials and six militants were killed.
The security barrier near the US consulate gate was damaged, and shells from rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades were left lying in the area, which was sealed off by Pakistani police and army, witnesses said.
Although the precise number of assailants was unclear, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, a provincial Cabinet minister, said two militants fled during the crossfire.
US missile strikes have killed more than 860 people since August 2008 in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt, surging under US President Barack Obama as he steps up efforts to end the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
“We accept the attacks on the American consulate. This is revenge for drone attacks,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Azam Tariq said by telephone from an undisclosed location. “We will carry out more such attacks. We will target any place where there are Americans.”
Peshawar lies on the edge of Pakistan’s tribal belt — branded by Washington a global headquarters of al-Qaeda.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS