Suicide Blasts, Armed Attacks Kill at Least 45 in Pakistan

A double bombing and shooting attack on the American Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, killed three security guards and several militants just hours after another suicide bomber killed at least 40 people at a rally in the nearby Lower Dir district on Monday.

AP via Google News:

The multi-pronged strike against the consulate in Peshawar city was the first direct assault on a U.S. mission in the country since 2006. Officials said the four attackers in two vehicles hoped to breach the heavily fortified compound and kill people inside, but they failed to do that and caused only minor damage.

They detonated their first suicide vehicle at a checkpoint some 20 meters from the entrance to the consulate, said Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali Khan. The second vehicle, which was carrying a larger amount of explosives, was stopped at another security barrier some 15 meters from the entrance, he said.

“The driver had no option, but to detonate the vehicle right there,” said Khan.

The second blast killed two militants wearing suicide vests who were walking ahead of the pickup truck, said Khan.

[…] In Washington, a White House spokesman condemned the blasts.

The style of the attack — multiple suicide bombs and attackers with conventional weapons — has become an increasingly common one both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Russia Today ran some footage of the blasts and their aftermath in this report on Monday: