In continuing wave of violence in Pakistan's northwest, a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a police check post on Peshawar's outskirts on Saturday killing 10 people, including women and children, and injuring over 25 others.

The bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle, packed with 50 kg of explosives, when he was flagged at the checkpoint at Pishtakhara Chowk, the main entry point to Peshawar from the troubled Khyber tribal region.

The powerful blast blew up a number of other vehicles lined up at the check post. A large number of people were present in a nearby bus stand and commercial area when the blast occurred at about 4.15 pm.

Hospital officials said 10 people, including two children, two women and two policemen, were killed and over 25 injured.

Several of the injured, including women, are in a critical condition, they said.

The bomber came in a car from the direction of Bara, a town in Khyber Agency, and blew himself up when police were checking his vehicle, district administration chief Shahibzada Anees said.

Security forces cordoned off the area as ambulances took bodies and the injured to three nearby hospitals. An emergency was declared in hospitals across Peshawar.

Officials of the bomb disposal squad said about 50 kg of explosives were used in the attack.

They said they had found the engine of the car used by the bomber and were hopeful of using it to trace the owner.

Footage on television showed smoke billowing into the sky after the blast, which caused widespread panic in the area.

Several cars were reduced to mangled heaps of metal and the police check post and several shops were damaged.

Investigators scoured the site for clues, including the body parts of the bomber.

Pieces of cars, bicycles and belongings of people lay strewn all over the site of the blast.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Vehicles entering Peshawar from the Khyber Agency are checked at the check post in Pishtakhara Chowk.

Pakistani security forces have been conducting operations against militants in Khyber Agency.

The NWFP has witnessed a wave of suicide attacks and bombings since the army launched an operation against the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in South Waziristan tribal region.
 
Suicide car bombers yesterday struck the Inter-Services Intelligence agency's headquarters in Peshawar and a police station in Bannu, killing 20 people and injuring 85 others.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned today's attack and expressed sorrow at the loss of lives.

They said the government will speed up efforts to wipe out extremists and terrorists from the country.

In separate messages, Zardari and Gilani expressed their resolve not to be deterred by terrorist attacks.

NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour ruled out the possibility of holding talks with the militants.

"Some political parties say we should hold talks (with the militants). Who should we talk with? Should we talk to those who are killing our children and spreading destruction?" he told reporters after visiting the injured in a hospital.

"We will not talk to any terrorists... With the cooperation of political forces and the people, we will stand united and we will be successful," he said.

 Asked who was behind the wave of attacks, Bilour said: "Only terrorists are responsible. No Americans, British, Europeans or Indians have died in the attacks, only Muslims, small children and our sisters and brothers have died. They (the attackers) are not Muslims or Pathans or humans, they are barbarians".

Bilour described the attacks in the NWFP as a "reaction" to the military operations against Taliban in tribal areas.

"We will fight them to the end even if we lose our lives," he said.

Meanwhile, the Taliban on Saturday warned that they will increase suicide attacks across the country if the government does not review its policies.

Qari Hussain, the trainer of suicide bombers and spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsood, challenged the government to stop the wave of suicide attacks if it could. 

Hussain also claimed responsibility for yesterday s suicide attacks on the headquarters of Inter-Services Intelligence agency in Peshawar and a police station in Bannu district.  Twenty people were killed and 85 injured in these attacks.

The Taliban targeted the ISI office as intelligence agencies have a major role in policy-making by the government, Hussain told BBC Urdu. 

"These attacks are a reaction to the military operation in Waziristan and Pakistan s help in the anti-terror campaign," he said.  Referring to the military operation underway in South Waziristan, Hussain said Taliban fighters had retreated under a strategy. 

"The strategy is aimed at saving our manpower and weapons for guerrilla war in the region," he said.  

The Taliban will soon launch a guerrilla war against the Pakistan Army in South Waziristan, he said.  The army claims it has killed over 500 militants since the operation was launched nearly a month ago. PTI