Suicide bombing at Pakistani police station kills three (1st Lead)

Sep 26, 2009, 5:32 GMT

   Islamabad - A suicide bomber struck a police station in Pakistan's troubled north-west on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, police said.

   The attacker detonated his pickup truck with around 150 kilograms of explosives at the gates of Mandan police station on the fringes of the Bannu town.

   The blast flattened the police building and damaged several adjoining houses, trapping dozens of people under the rubble.

   'Three bodies, including that of a suspect being interrogated at the police station, have been recovered from the blast site,' Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said.

   Around 60 people, most of them policemen, were injured in the bombing, which left a 3-metre crater on the road.

   Private news channels reported the death toll as high as six. Television footage showed rescuers removing victims from the debris.

   The suicide attack came two days after Islamist militants ambushed a convoy of anti-Taliban tribal elders just outside Bannu, killing at least eight pro-government militiamen. Ten more people were killed in ensuing clashes.

   Bannu borders Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal district, a known hub of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. It has seen several militant assaults on government forces as well as civilian targets in recent months.

   Taliban militants earlier this week warned of deadly attacks in revenge for government offensives against them in the north-western region near Afghanistan.

   A suspected US drone strike killed at least 12 militants in North Waziristan late on Thursday.