A suicide bomber killed five people in the Pakistani city of Peshawar today when he set off his explosives at a checkpoint on a busy road, police said.
Peshawar has seen a surge of militant strikes since the army went on the offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants in their South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border in October.
"The bomber was on foot and detonated explosives strapped to his body during a body-search at the check post," Karim Khan, senior police officer at the scene, said.
The site of the explosion is on the city's Mall Road, near offices of the national airline and some media companies. It is also close to a Christian girls' school and the city's military district.
Senior city official Sahibzada Anis said five people, including one policeman, were killed and 25 were wounded. The bomber had apparently been heading towards a market, he said.
The blast sparked panic in offices and shops along the road, residents said. Peshawar is the gateway to the Khyber Pass and an ancient trading hub between South Asia's plains and the mountains of Afghanistan.
During the 1980s, the city was also a hub for Islamist fighters, including Osama bin Laden, battling Soviet occupiers in nearby Afghanistan.
Security is very tight in Peshawar and elsewhere across the country, with police checkpoints on roads and guards at the gates of public buildings.
Reuters