Security teams search the rubble of the barracks [Reuters]

Police said that initial reports of fatalities were incorrect, but that at least seven people had been wounded in Thursday's blast in Islamabad.

Police believe the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber in a car who was pretending to deliver sweets to members of the anti-terrorism unit.

The attack comes less than three weeks after more than 50 people were killed when a bomber detonated a lorry full of explosives at the Marriott hotel in the city.

Separately, five civilians, including women and children, were killed when a shell hit a house in the Matta district of Swat during clashes between troops and fighters, another security official told the AFP.

'Heavy casualties'

Also on Thursday, Pakistani fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships destroyed a Taliban facility in the northwest, killing 20 fighters, security officials said.

The air attack targeted a rebel stronghold in Piochar, a village in the Swat valley, a former tourist area once dubbed the "Switzerland of Pakistan", where troops have been battling fighters since last year.

"Helicopter gunships and jets targeted militant strongholds in Piochar, inflicting heavy casualties on them," a security official told the AFP news agency.

"The successful air strike killed 20 militants," another official said, requesting anonymity.

The attack in Islamabad came as parliament entered into a closed-door question and answer session after a sensitive briefing by the country's military chiefs.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's freshly appointed intelligence chief addressed politicians on the domestic threat posed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal regions, in another closed-door session.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto:

Be first to comment this article

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4