Suicide bomber kills soldier outside Pakistan Navy HQ (Roundup)

Dec 2, 2009, 10:00 GMT

   Islamabad - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint outside the Naval Headquarters in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Wednesday, killing one soldier, officials said.

   The attack was the latest in a series of terrorist assaults in towns and cities since the army launched an offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan bastion in October.

   Navy spokesman Mobeen Bajwa said the bomber detonated his explosive vest when he was asked to remove his coat by a guard at one of the gates of the Naval Headquarters.

   'The official was killed and 11 more people, including two guards and civilian passers-by were wounded,' Bajwa said. One of the injured guards was in critical condition, he added.

   Islamabad's top civil administrator Fazeel Asghar said the attacker appeared to be a teenager.

   The sprawling naval complex is situated at the foot of the Margalla Hills and adjoins the Pakistan Air Force headquarters and some of the city's most upmarket neighbourhoods.

   It was the fourth suicide attack in Islamabad in less than two months.

   On October 5, a bomber disguised as a paramilitary soldier struck the United Nations' World Food Programme offices, located few hundred meters from Wednesday's blast site, killing five people.

   Two back-to-back suicide bombings ripped through Islamabad's International Islamic University, leaving at least seven students dead, later in the month.