Peshwar:
Unknown gunmen on Monday shot dead a Pakistani employee of the US consulate in the north-western city of Peshawar, officials said.
Two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on Faisal Saeed, 30, outside his residence in Peshawar, senior police official Najibur Rehman told AFP.
Rehman identified Saeed as a former employee of the US consulate in Peshawar, but the US embassy in Islamabad said he was a staff member.
"Local authorities are investigating a tragic incident that has affected a Pakistani national US Consulate Peshawar employee," a US Embassy spokeswoman said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn this brutal and senseless death, and express our heartfelt condolences to the family," she said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing.
Peshawar is a frontline city in Pakistan's battle against Islamist insurgents. Since July 2007, Pakistan has been gripped by a local Taliban-led insurgency, concentrated largely in the northwest.
The government says more than 40,000 people have been killed in Pakistan by Taliban and Al-Qaeda-led militants, who oppose the country's alliance with the United States.
Two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on Faisal Saeed, 30, outside his residence in Peshawar, senior police official Najibur Rehman told AFP.
Rehman identified Saeed as a former employee of the US consulate in Peshawar, but the US embassy in Islamabad said he was a staff member.
"Local authorities are investigating a tragic incident that has affected a Pakistani national US Consulate Peshawar employee," a US Embassy spokeswoman said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn this brutal and senseless death, and express our heartfelt condolences to the family," she said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing.
Peshawar is a frontline city in Pakistan's battle against Islamist insurgents. Since July 2007, Pakistan has been gripped by a local Taliban-led insurgency, concentrated largely in the northwest.
The government says more than 40,000 people have been killed in Pakistan by Taliban and Al-Qaeda-led militants, who oppose the country's alliance with the United States.
