Militants target Pak's naval headquarters; one killed

Militants on Wednesday struck Pakistan's naval headquarters with a teenage suicide bomber blowing himself up at the gate of the complex here, killing a naval official and injuring three others, including a young boy.

In the brazen attack, the bomber approached the naval headquarters complex on Margalla Road, a key thoroughfare in the federal capital, on foot at 1.30 pm (local time) and blew himself up on being challenged by the guards, police said.

The attack on the naval headquarters comes nearly two months after Taliban militants targeted the Army General Headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi leaving 22 people, including 11 security personnel, dead.

The bomber was carrying heavy explosives wrapped around his body and he detonated it as the naval policemen tried to frisk him. The body parts of the bomber were scattered on the roadside, TV footage showed. "He was trying to enter the naval headquarters, and when the guards tried to check him and take off his coat, he blew himself up," Deputy Inspector General of Police (operations) Bin Yamin told reporters.

The naval policeman who tried to frisk the bomber was killed and two more personnel were seriously injured. A six-year-old boy who was passing by also sustained severe head injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Witnesses said the bomber was aged about 17 to 18 years. No group claimed responsibility for the assault though the Pakistani Taliban have been blamed for a series of bombings and suicide attacks, many of them targeting the security forces.

Security forces, including elite commandos, cordoned off the naval headquarters after the blast as investigators gathered the body parts of the bomber. Debris lay strewn all over the road in front of the naval headquarters. A few cars were also damaged by the blast.

In the past few weeks, militants and suicide bombers have targeted several security facilities, including the Federal Investigation Agency office and police training centres in Lahore and the provincial headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency in Peshawar. Dozens have died in these attacks.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks on the security forces, which began after the army launched operations against militants in South Waziristan tribal region in October.