The US has expressed "great concern" over a deadly assault by militants on the American consulate in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.
The Pakistani Taliban say they carried out the attack, which left three guards and four militants dead. A gun battle erupted between security forces and militants after a series of blasts, which damaged buildings.
The raid came hours after 43 people died in a suicide attack just to the north-east, near the Swat Valley.
 |  This is revenge for drone attacks, we will target any place where there are Americans  Azam Tariq Taliban spokesman  |
Investigators suspect it was co-ordinated with the Peshawar raid, in which attackers tossed grenades into the consulate compound.
There were no reported US casualties and it is not clear if the US building suffered any damage.
Police said it began when four heavily armed men in two cars tried to reach the consulate, which is in a heavily fortified area.
Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali Khan told the Associated Press news agency the militants detonated their first vehicle at a checkpoint about 20 metres (65ft) from the entrance.
He said the driver of the other vehicle blew it up at another security barrier some 15 metres from the American mission.
Pakistani soldiers were immediately deployed on the main Khyber Road, where the explosions went off.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the US response was one of "great concern", adding: "We strongly condemn the violence."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement she was "outraged and deeply saddened" by the attack.
| ANALYSIS  M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad Monday's attack in Peshawar appears to be similar to recent gun-and-bomb raids in Lahore and Rawalpindi. These have been co-ordinated assaults, with several gunmen moving in alongside suicide bombers to force their way into a facility - this time the "prized" US consulate. The Pakistani Taliban were apparently aiming for a feat to match the one last December in Khost, Afghanistan, in which several American CIA officials were killed. Another reason could be to try to ease military pressure on militants in Orakzai tribal district, where the Pakistani security forces launched a major operation last week. America's presence in Afghanistan and US drone strikes on militant targets in Pakistan's tribal areas make the US a top target for the Taliban. |
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said his group had carried out the raid in retaliation for air raids by unmanned US aircraft.
"We accept the attacks on the American consulate," he told AFP news agency by telephone. "This is revenge for drone attacks.
"We will carry out more such attacks. We will target any place where there are Americans."
The BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says this is the first attack on US interests in Pakistan in four years.
In 2006, a US diplomat was killed by a suicide car bomber near the US consulate in Karachi, days before a visit to Pakistan by then US President George W Bush.
As well as an Islamist insurgency that has killed many hundreds of people in recent years, nuclear-armed Pakistan is plagued by political bickering.
| ATTACKS ON US TARGETS Feb 2010: Three US military trainers die in bomb near Lower Dir school Aug 2008: Top US diplomat evades Peshawar gun attack Mar 2006: Suicide bomb kills US diplomat near same consulate Feb 2003: Gunmen kill two policemen outside same consulate June 2002: 12 Pakistanis die in bomb at Karachi US consulate |
Constitutional amendments, long demanded by the opposition, are expected to pass this week, making him more of a titular head of state, while empowering the prime minister and parliament.
In an annual address to MPs on Monday, Mr Zardari was cheered as he vowed there would be no surrender to the insurgents.
Peshawar, which is on the edge of Pakistan's tribal areas, has been frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
Analysts said Monday's attacks appeared to be in response to a major security operation launched last week in the Orakzai tribal region near Peshawar.
BBC NEWS
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