23 October 2009
Police in Pakistan say a suicide bomber struck near a military facility Friday, killing eight people.
Officials say at least 13 people were wounded when the bomber struck a checkpoint outside the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra - west of the capital, Islamabad.
In a separate incident Friday, police say a car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in the northwestern city of Peshawar, wounding at least eight people.
Militant attacks
On Thursday, a U.N. peacekeeper was shot to death in his army vehicle by two assailants on a motorcycle, while the man was on home leave in Pakistan.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a statement extending his "heartfelt condolences" to the family of Brigadier General Ahmed Moinuddin,
Moinuddin had been a member of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Sudan for the past five months.
No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, but the chief of the Islamabad police Kaleem Immam blamed Taliban extremists. He said authorities are pursuing the attackers.
Taliban militants have launched a wave of attacks in recent weeks, hitting police centers, the army's headquarters, a United Nations office and an Islamic university. Schools across the country have been ordered closed until Sunday because of security fears.