'Suicide attack injures five children'

A suicide bomber injures five children in northwestern Pakistan.

A suicide car bomber blew himself up close to a school bus in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, injuring five children, the military and police said.

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The attack in the garrison town of Kamra, known for its air force base and aircraft factories, struck as children were going to school.
"A children's bus was targeted in Kamra. Five children were injured," Pakistan military spokesman Waheed Arshad told AFP.

The suicide attacker died in the incident, Arshad said, adding that there were about 35 children on the bus.

The bus driver and a guard inside the vehicle were also injured in the incident in Kamra, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Islamabad, state television said.

Local police said the attack took place outside the airforce base.

"The suicide attacker was in a white Toyota Corolla car, which has been blown up into many small pieces," senior police official Zulfiqar Hussain Shah told AFP.

Last month, two suicide bombings targeting Pakistani security forces killed at least 20 people in Rawalpindi, the garrison city near Islamabad.

Pakistan is battling pro-Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. The violence has spread into main towns and cities following the July military raid of Red Mosque in Islamabad.