The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Peshawar

Gunmen shot dead a U.S. aid official along with his driver as he left his home in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar Wednesday, police said.

The attack took place in a neighborhood favored by diplomats and foreign aid workers and close to the American Club.

"As he was coming out of his home, the attackers opened fire on him and killed him along with his driver," a senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said. "He was working for U.S. aid projects for tribal areas," he added.

Peshawar has borne the brunt of a wave of Islamist militancy sweeping in from the rugged semi-autonomous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have taken root.

The U.S. embassy in Islamabad confirmed that an American had been killed, but withheld the name of the slain man.

"An American citizen and his Pakistani driver were killed in an attack in Peshawar," acting embassy spokesman Wesley Robertson said. "The attack is currently under investigation and we are coordinating with the local authorities."

Robertson said the dead American was not part of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Pakistan, but was serving in the country in a "private capacity."

Abdul Qadir, a superintendent of police, told private Samaa television police had "close camera shots of the assailants" and had launched a search and cordon operation.

Just hours after the shooting a suicide car-bomber killed three Pakistani soldiers and wounded four in an attack on military camp in the northwestern town of Shabqadar, 35 km (22 miles) north of Peshawar and close to the Mohmand tribal region.

Tuesday evening, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a sports stadium in Peshawar, killing three people.