Pakistan - suicide attack

Suicide bomber kills ten in Peshawar

Article published on the 2009-12-07 Latest update 2009-12-07 11:53 TU

Soldiers guard the site of a bomb blast in Peshawar last week
(Photo: Reuters)

At least ten people have been killed in suicide bomb attack outside a court in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. Dozens more have been injured.

According to police, a man stepped out of a rickshaw and was trying to make his way towards the Sessions Court but was stopped by security personnel. The man then detonated himself, killing five people, which included police officials.

"The bomber came in a rickshaw," Bashir Bilor, a senior minister in the provincial government, told reporters.

"He got down and tried to enter the building but could not do so because of our security arrangements. The injured included three police and two lawyers."

Officials also said that the between six and seven kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.

Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the blast. He deplored the incident and directed authorities to conduct an inquiry into it.

It is the latest attack on a city that has been badly hit by Taliban-inspired violence. Last month it suffered six attacks in 11 days including another court house attack which killed 19.

Islamist militants have set off numerous bombs in the north-western city, near the border with Afghanistan, in retaliation for an army offensive on their South Waziristan bastion, killing several hundred people.