Suicide bombing in the heart of Peshawar claims five lives

Peshawar: A suicide bomber killed five people in Peshawar yesterday when he set off his explosives at a checkpost on a busy road in the heart of the city, 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 checkpost," Karim Khan, senior police officer at the scene, told Reuters.

The checkpost 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.

Top city official Sahibzada Anis told Reuters 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 extremists, including Osama Bin Laden, battling Soviet occupiers in nearby Afghanistan. Security is very tight in Peshawar and elsewhere across the country, with police checkposts on roads and guards at the gates of public buildings.

But analysts say it is virtually impossible to stop bombers on foot or in cars who are prepared to blow themselves up when challenged.

Tight security

Stock investors shrugged off the latest blast and the main index ended 1.28 per cent up at 9,422.23 a day after the International Monetary Fund approved a fourth tranche, worth $1.2 billion (Dh4.40 billion), of a $11.3 billion standby arrangement.

Police have stepped up already tight security in the run-up to Ashura, the Shiite mourning ritual, early next week.

Militants have in the past attacked the processions on the streets.

Deteriorating security has coincided with rising political troubles for President Asif Ali Zardari and his government.