A suicide car bomber attacked an office used by Pakistan's main intelligence agency in the northwestern city of Peshawar today, killing 10 people and wounding 60, officials said.
The city, near the Afghan border, has been targeted several times since the army began an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan last month and militants stepped up retaliatory attacks.
A military spokesman said the bomber's target was the office of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and the bomber detonated his explosives at a checkpost outside.
The explosion brought down the front of the three-storey building and sent a thick column of smoke billowing over the city. The attack came shortly before US National Security Adviser Jim Jones began meetings with military and government leaders in Islamabad.
A wounded soldier said the bomber was in a type of vehicle that usually delivers medical supplies. It was not clear how many people were in the building when the bomber struck at about 6.40am before the city's rush-hour.
The ISI has in the past supported Islamists, beginning with guerrillas battling Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan in the 1980s, but in recent years has become a target of some militant factions.
Shortly after the Peshawar attack, a suicide car bomber attacked a police station near the northwestern town of Bannu, killing seven people including five policemen. Bannu is a gateway to the North Waziristan, another major militant sanctuary on the Afghan border.
Security is tight across the country with numerous checks on roads and it was not clear how the bomber was able to approach the ISI office.
The United States, weighing options as it struggles to stabilise Afghanistan, says Pakistani action against militants in border enclaves is vital for its Afghan effort.
Militants have stepped up attacks on security forces including a commando-style raid and hostage-taking at the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi last month.
The frontier city of Peshawar has been targeted several times since the army began an offensive against the militants in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on October 17th.
Reuters