Pakistani Taleban militants claimed responsibility for the attack on the consulate, in which eight people, including three militants, were killed but no one in the mission was hurt. They vowed more violence.

Militant attacks have raised fears for the future of the nuclear-armed US ally, also beset by political wrangling.

But in a move that should ease political infighting, President Asif Ali Zardari called on Parliament to approve quickly reforms that will see him give up his main powers.

The assault on the tightly guarded consulate was launched hours after the bomb blast at a rally of supporters of an ethnic Pashtun-based political party staunchly opposed to the militants.

The attacks underscored the danger posed by militants after a year of military offensives, which have dealt the militants significant setbacks.

“I saw attackers in two vehicles. Some of them carried rocket-propelled grenades. They first opened fire at security personnel at the post near the consulate and then blasts went off,” Peshawar resident Siraj Afridi told Reuters.

A Pakistani intelligence official described the assault as a well-planned suicide attack. The White House condemned the attack while the US Embassy said both of Monday’s incidents reflected the militants’ desperation.

US diplomatic missions and staff have been attacked several times in Pakistan since the south Asian country threw its support behind the United States in a global campaign against militancy launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on US cities.

The blasts threw clouds of white smoke into the sky and residents said soldiers had cordoned off the scene and ordered residents to remain indoors. Helicopters hovered overhead.

Pakistani Taleban spokesman Azam Tariq said by telephone from an undisclosed location his group was behind the attack.

“Americans are our enemies. We carried out the attack on their consulate in Peshawar. We plan more such attacks,” Tariq said, while denying responsibility for the earlier blast at the political party rally.

Liaqat Ali, chief of police in Peshawar, which is the gateway to Afghanistan and has seen a string of bomb attacks over the past year, said the gunmen first attacked a security post on the approach to the consulate then set off a bomb at its gate.

Stock market dealers said the violence briefly brought some selling pressure, but the main index closed 0.30 percent higher at 10,447.84 on foreign buying.

Earlier, a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up at a rally of the Awami National Party (ANP), in the Lower Dir district, 80 km northeast of Peshawar, killing 38 people, a hospital doctor said.

The ANP, which heads a coalition government in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and is also a member of the federal coalition government, is a largely secular party and opposes the militants battling the state.

Militants have attacked ANP gatherings before.

The meeting was called to celebrate the renaming of NWFP, which the party has long demanded. Under constitutional amendments expected to be approved in Parliament this week, the province will be renamed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, in a bid to represent its dominant Pashtun population.