Pakistani authorities say a U.S. employee of the U.S. Consulate in Lahore is being held on double murder charges, a day after he shot and killed two Pakistanis in what he says was self-defense.
Police say the U.S. diplomat was stopped at a traffic signal when two men on a motorcycle fired shots at his vehicle in Lahore. According to the police, the man returned fire and alerted a separate U.S. security team. Both alleged attackers later died in a hospital.
Pakistani authorities say a third Pakistani was killed in the incident when he was struck by a U.S. consulate vehicle that had rushed to the aid of the consular employee.
U.S. officials have not identified the consulate employee or clarified his diplomatic status.
The incident has inflamed anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, already running high because of regular covert drone attacks in Pakistan's northwest.
A headline Friday in the newspaper The Nation read "American Rambo Goes Beserk in Lahore."
There were small demonstrations Friday in Karachi and Islamabad where protesters burned U.S. flags and chanted anti-U.S. slogans.
Pakistan's prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, told reporters Friday an investigation into the incident is continuing and that everything connected to the case should be done according to the law.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Thursday the U.S. will fully cooperate with any Pakistani investigation into the incident.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
