Three Dead in Pakistan Suicide Bombing

At least three people were killed today in a suicide bomb attack in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi.

"Three or four people including [the] bomber were killed," senior city government official Irfan Ellahi told Reuters.

"I can see pieces of flesh littering the road and four damaged vehicles," a witness said.

The attack occurred on Mall Road, outside a government office. There was no immediate confirmation of television reports that an army vehicle had been damaged.

Today's blast was the first bomb attack outside the troubled north-west of Pakistan since parliamentary elections last week.

Rawalpindi, which is close to capital Islamabad, has been the target of a series of recent suicide attacks, including the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in December.

In October a suicide bomber killed six people in the city, in what was believed to be an assassination attempt against the president, Pervez Musharraf.

Ten days later a suicide bomber killed three people at the Rawalpindi home of the political affairs minister, Amir Muqam, who escaped unharmed.