Blasts Rock Pakistan Capital, Injuring at Least 2

At least four explosions rocked downtown Islamabad today, police and witnesses said, with one blast near the U.S. Embassy and another outside an American cultural center. At least two people were wounded, police said.

An Associated Press reporter saw a car burning outside the cultural center. Police said it was apparently a car bomb, and firefighters were working to put out the flames.

The explosion near the embassy also was apparently a car bomb, police said. A U.N. car was in flames several hundred yards from the embassy building. A third explosion occurred outside a Citibank branch, witnesses said, and a fourth blast was near the city’s World Bank building.

The explosions all occurred late in the morning within several miles of one another in downtown Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Afterward, workers scurried into the streets to see what had happened.

The two people reported wounded were outside the cultural center--known as the American Center--when the explosion occurred. There was no immediate word on casualties at the other blast sites.

A student who identified himself only as Hussain said he was inside the library at the American Center when he heard an explosion. He said he and dozens of others rushed outside to see what had happened.

Outside the U.S. Embassy, hundreds of people had gathered to watch as the U.N. car burned.