Three killed after shootout with foreigner in Pakistan

Three people were killed after a shootout between an armed US consulate employee and two Pakistani gunmen in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, police and witnesses said.   

The foreigner, identified by the US embassy as a consular employee in Lahore, was sitting in his car at a traffic signal when two men chasing him on a motorcycle opened fire. 

The man returned the fire in self-defence, wounding the two attackers, who both died later in the hospital. Police said a consulate car that came to the scene later struck and killed a pedestrian.                                           

Aslam Tarim, Lahore police chief, said in broadcast comments that the US national had been taken into custody at a police station. 

Police official Omar Saeed had earlier said the man had opened fire in self-defence.                                           

"We are investigating whether it was a robbery attempt or something else," he said. 

Pakistan is a vital US ally, but anti-American sentiment runs high in the mainly Muslim nation.                                           

Three US Special Operations soldiers were killed in a bomb attack last year in northwestern Pakistan, where militants are very active.