Watch for the Pakistani government, our vaunted Friend and Ally, to respond to this by boldly holding its hand out and demanding more dollars. “Islamist Militants Attack US Consulate in Pakistan,” by Riaz Khan for AP, April 5 (thanks to Joe of SIOA Columbia):
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (April 5) — Islamist militants attacked a U.S. consulate in northwest Pakistan with car bombs and grenades Monday, killing three people, hours after 41 people died in a suicide attack on a political rally elsewhere in the region….
After the car bombs exploded at a checkpoint outside the consulate in Peshawar, militants dressed in security uniforms fired mortars or rocket-propelled grenades at the heavily fortified compound in an attempt to make their way inside, said a Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
“I think they could not manage to get inside,” provincial Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour told reporters outside the consulate.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said the militants attempted to enter the building and fired grenades and other weapons. It said no Americans were killed in the assault, but did not say whether the building itself was damaged….
The three people killed in Monday’s attack included a paramilitary soldier, a private security guard and a civilian, said police official Sattar Khan. Four militants were also killed during the attack and three other people were wounded, he said….
Police discovered suicide jackets after the militants were killed and defused them, said Bilour….