Death toll rises in consulate car bomb attack

The death toll in the car bombing outside the US consulate in Karachi today rose to 12.

An injured constable who was guarding the consulate at the time of the blast has died in hospital, Dr Seemi Jamali said.

Another 44 people were injured as the explosion blew a gaping hole in the heavily guarded consulate’s perimeter wall, shattered windows a block away and sent debris flying over a half-mile radius.

US investigators were today at the scene of the blast trying to reconstruct how Friday’s attack took place.

Pakistani police said they were taking seriously a claim of responsibility from a previously unknown group that threatened further attacks.

The widespread devastation made it difficult to piece together events leading up to the bombing, even the precise death toll and which vehicle contained the explosives.

Officials first said they thought a suicide bomber was responsible. But attention has shifted to a driver’s training school car that was carrying an instructor and three female students.

Police said the bomb may have been stashed in the vehicle by someone who knew it would pass by the consulate and who detonated the explosives by radio from nearby.

Police officials said they estimated the bomb contained between 20-30lbs of explosives.

The US closed its Consulates in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, as well as the American Centre in Islamabad, with a decision to be made later today on whether to reopen tomorrow.

The fourth attack against foreigners in Pakistan since January also prompted the US government to consider scaling back diplomatic staff in a country on the front line of the war against al Qaida.

One US Marine guard and five Pakistani employees at the Karachi consulate suffered slight injuries from flying debris.

Tight security measures, including concrete barriers around a 10-ft-high concrete wall, probably prevented more casualties inside the heavily guarded compound.

US officials in Washington said they suspected al-Qaida or affiliated Islamic extremist groups to be behind the attack.