Pakistan Bombings Kill 18 As Spy Agency Hit

A powerful suicide car bomb ripped through Pakistan's top spy agency, the three-storey Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) provincial headquarters in the northwestern city of Peshawar, destroying more than half of the building and killing at least 10 people.

A similar bombing killed eight people in another northwest town, the latest in a spate of attacks as 30,000 troops press their most ambitious assault yet against Taliban militants in their mountain strongholds on the Afghan border.

The bomber, driving a mini-truck loaded with explosives, raced down the road toward the ISI building shortly before sunrise, said Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain.

Soldiers opened fire after they spotted the truck, but the bomber ploughed into a steel barrier and blew up the vehicle outside the main gate of the ISI compound, wreaking massive destruction, he added.

Peshawar, on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt infested with Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, has increasingly become the favored target for major attacks by suspected Taliban militants in recent months, particularly since the army launched its massive offensive in October.

The attacks coincided with a visit by US National Security Advisor James Jones who held talks with Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani.

"Seven military officials and three civilians were martyred and 60 others were injured," a military statement said.

"Up to 300 kilograms of high explosives and mortars were packed into the car bomb," Provincial Police chief Malik Naveed told AFP.

-AFP/NOW Lebanon