Peshawar: bomb hits US consulate vehicle
Supporters of hardline pro-Taliban party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Nazaryati (JUI-N) shout anti – U.S. slogans during a protest in Quetta on May 2, 2011, after the killing of Osama Bin Laden by U.S. Special Forces in a ground operation in Pakistan’s hill station of Abbottabad.
A roadside bomb went off near two U.S. consulate vehicles traveling in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing a Pakistani passer-by and injuring 11 people including some Americans, reports the Associated Press.
The Pakistani Taliban later claimed responsibility for bombing, AFP reports.
"We claim responsibility," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP Friday. "Our first enemy is Pakistan, then the United States and after that, other NATO countries."
U.S. Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez told AP the attack occurred as two American vehicles were traveling on University Road in Peshawar Friday morning. The attack damaged one of the vehicles.
Accounts concerning where the bomb was located differed.
Pakistan's the Nation reports that the bomb was planted on the roadside and controlled through a remote.
Police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told CNN a car packed with 110 pounds of explosives detonated as the consulate vehicles passed.
The Pakistani killed was riding a motorcycle on the road when the blast took place, Reuters reports.
The attack comes about two weeks after U.S. Navy SEALs found Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and raided his compound to capture and kill him.
After the May 2 raid, extremist groups including Al Qaeda and the Taliban vowed to avenge bin Laden's death and attack Americans in Pakistan.
Since bin Laden's death, there has been an increase in attacks in Pakistan. A twin suicide bombing at a paramilitary camp in Pakistan last week killed more than 80 people.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants frequently target Peshawar, which is about 90 miles from the capital Islamabad.