Suicide bomber kills 3 in Peshawar

At least three people were killed and five others injured on Monday when a suicide bomber in an auto-rickshaw blew himself up near a group of policemen in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, a day after 14 people died in a similar attack in the city.

The bomber, who was in his early 20s, detonated his explosives when the auto-rickshaw was stopped by policemen at the check post on the ring road at 10 am. The attack was the latest in a string of strikes that have killed more than 300 people over the past six weeks. A blast in late October in Peshawar killed nearly 120 people in the deadliest attack to hit the country since 2007.

Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan said the blast killed three persons and injured five others. Other officials said the auto-rickshaw driver, a police constable and a property dealer were among the dead. Khan said the bomber apparently seemed to be heading somewhere else, but blew himself up when he was stopped by the policemen.

"There was a fire nearby where thousands of people had gathered. The bomber could have caused a lot of damage if he had reached that spot," he said.

Constable Tajuddin, one of the policemen at the check post, said the bomber was a youth in his 20s. Meanwhile, the death toll in Sunday's attack in a busy market on the outskirts of Peshawar today rose to 14, police said.