Three people were killed after a shootout between an armed US consulate employee and two Pakistani gunmen in the eastern city of Lahore today, police 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 aboard 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 the US national had been taken into custody at a police station.
Police official Omar Saeed had earlier told Reuters 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.
Reuters