Pakistani officials say at least nine people, including the bomber,
have been killed in a suicide attack outside the office of a top police
chief in northwestern Pakistan.
They say at least five police
officers and three civilians were among those killed in Friday's attack
in the town of Mardan. More than 25 people were wounded.
Mardan's
police chief Akhtar Ali Shah told reporters he heard an explosion
outside his office as he was about to leave. The blast took place
close to members of the police chief's convoy. He was not hurt.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mardan is near the area where Pakistani forces have been battling Taliban and al-Qaida militants for months.
On
Thursday, Pakistani security officials say they detained a suspected
Taliban commander and killed at least five other militants during an
operation in the Mohmand tribal region bordering Bajaur.
They
say the commander helped prepare suicide bomb materials and maintained
links with insurgents across the border in Afghanistan.
