Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed a Saudi diplomat in Karachi on Monday, police and the Saudi ambassador said, the second attack on the mission since the killing of Osama bin Laden increased tensions in the region.
Al Qaeda is violently opposed to the Saudi government and has vowed revenge for the killing of its leader, Saudi-born bin Laden, by U.S. special forces in Abbottabad on May 2.
Four people riding motorcycles opened fire on the Saudi diplomat’s car, a Karachi police official said. The diplomat, a low ranking security official, was on his way to the consulate when the assailants struck.
“We condemn this attack. No one who carries out this kind of attack can be a Muslim,” the Saudi ambassador, Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer, told Reuters.
The ambassador suggested “terrorists”, a reference to Muslim militant groups such as al Qaeda, carried out the attack.
The shooting occurred days after unidentified attackers threw two hand grenades at the Saudi consulate in Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial hub. No one was hurt in that attack.
Saudi Arabia, one of the United States’ most strategic allies, is the world biggest oil exporter and any signs that it’s security is threatened could move global oil prices.
A Saudi Interior Ministry official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters in Dubai that security would be stepped up to protect Saudi diplomats living in “dangerous” areas.
Riyadh described the killing of the diplomat as a “criminal attack” and said it would investigate alongside Pakistani authorities, the state news agency said.
