Pakistan bomb kills Turk, wounds 5 Americans

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Turkish woman was killed and five Americans were among 11 people wounded in a bomb attack on a restaurant in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Saturday night, police said.

The other wounded included a Briton, a Canadian and a Japanese national, and three Pakistanis, according to a list posted at the hospital where the casualties were taken.

Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda inspired Islamist militants since joining the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism after the September 11 attacks on the United States. More than 500 people have been killed this year in violence including suicide bombings.

None of the wounded in Saturday's blast were in critical condition, although one of the Pakistanis had been very seriously hurt, Islamabad's Assistant Commissioner Farasad Ali told Reuters from the hospital.

Police Deputy Inspector General Shahid Nadeem Baloch said the victim was a Turkish woman who worked for a relief agency, after television news channels had earlier identified her as an American nurse.

"U.S. embassy personnel were among those wounded," U.S. embassy spokeswoman Kay Mayfield said.

Bombers have targeted U.S. diplomats several times in the past. David Foy, a diplomat at the U.S. consulate in Karachi was killed by a suicide car bomber in March 2006.

Early last year a suicide bomber killed a security guard outside Islamabad's Marriott hotel, but attacks on soft targets like restaurants frequented by foreigners would mark a change in the militants' tactics.