Pakistan looking for militants after firing near US consulate (Third Lead)

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani security forces Saturday surrounded a building where suspected militants were hiding after firing occurred near the US consulate in Peshawar, capital of the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

An unknown number of gunmen opened fire around 6.00 a.m. a few hundred metres from the US consulate on Khyber Road, where most of the government buildings are located.

Bashir Bilour, a senior provincial minister, said the forces responded quickly after the firing, forcing the gunmen to take refuge in a government building where they are surrounded by the army and police.

“The situation is under control, the gunmen have been surrounded and soon they will surrender or we will kill them,” Bilour said.

He refused to give the number of attackers but said that irrespective of their numbers, “they will be taken to their natural end very soon”.

Television footage showed gunship helicopters hovering above the city, and ground troops taking their positions. For the moment, no casualties were reported.

All roads leading to the area have been blocked and commuters faced problems in reaching their destinations.

The attack comes days after the threat by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of over a dozen militant outfits, to target western aid workers helping over 17 million people displaced by the devastating floods.