Blasts Shake U.S. Consulate in Peshawar [Video]

Suspected Islamist militants attacked the U.S. consular office in the Pakistani city of Peshawar Monday, the latest strike against a U.S. government installation in the war-wracked country.

The U.S. embassy in Islamabad said at least two Pakistani security personnel guarding the consulate were killed and a number of others seriously wounded. The coordinated attacks involved a suicide bomber in a vehicle followed by militants attempting to enter the building using grenades and weapons fire, the embassy said ina a statement. Security forces repelled the attacks. There was no mention in the statement of any American deaths.

Bashir Bilour, a senior local government official, said officials recovered the bodies of at least four people presumed to be among the attackers. The bodies of three other people—two of them identified as security officials—were recovered, he added.

Police said the attackers were disguised in paramilitary uniforms to allow them to get inside the heavily-guarded area of government buildings where the consular office is located. Two of the bodies presumed to be those of the attackers were wearing unexploded suicide vests, police officials said.

The militants opened fire on a security checkpoint blocking the road on which the consulate is situated, police said. The attackers engaged in a firefight with security forces manning the checkpoint, police said.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing a number of explosions and gunfire near the consulate. Pakistani television showed pictures of huge plumes of smoke billowing above Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

The attacks in broad daylight show how militants are able to attack inside heavily-guarded urban areas of Pakistani cities despite stepped-up security in recent months after a wave of attacks.

No group immediately took responsibility for the attacks, but the Pakistan Taliban have claimed to have carried out a number of strikes on offices of the Pakistani government and security forces this year. Taliban militants in December were able to strike an office of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in eastern Afghanistan, which killed eight U.S. citizens, and last month carried out a series attacks on government offices and security forces in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

The Pakistan military, aided by U.S. missile strikes by pilotless drones, has stepped up its war against the Taliban in the province over the past two years and the Taliban attacks on urban centers are in apparent retaliation for this campaign.

Washington has maintained a diplomatic presence in Peshawar despite the precarious security situation and frequent warnings from the Taliban of imminent strikes on U.S. government buildings. The U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan's financial capital, has been targeted a number of times in the past few years, leading to the death of a U.S. diplomat in 2006.

The U.S. has earmarked $7.5 billion to spend on nonmilitary aid for Pakistan, much of it for development projects in the poor North West Frontier Province. "Personnel at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar are at the forefront of U.S. support for the Government of Pakistan's security and development agenda" in the area, the U.S. embassy statement said.

Peshawar has been repeatedly hit by militants. The most recent big attack, in November 2009, targeted the regional headquarters of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence military spy agency.

The clash near the U.S. consulate followed shortly after a suspected suicide bomber attacked a political rally elsewhere in the North West Frontier Province Monday, killing at least 41 people and wounding more than 80, officials said.

The blast at the political rally appeared to target the Awami National Party, the region's ruling party and a prominent supporter of army offensives against the militants, in Lower Dir district. The rally was to celebrate a recent decision by Parliament to change the name of the North West Frontier Province.

"There was a huge bomb blast sending chairs and bodies parts of the people into the air," said Umar Daraz, a shopkeeper who was present at the gathering.

WSJ