Islamabad: Two policemen were killed and four others were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at an emergency police office in Islamabad on Saturday evening, officials said.
"A suicide bomber tried to enter the building from the outer wall when a constable retaliated and opened fire at him. The bomber blew up as a result," Islamabad's deputy inspector general of police, Bin Yamin, told reporters at the scene.
TV channels and online media reports said two policemen were killed. But Yamin confirmed the death of only one, adding that one of the injured was in critical condition.
According to the online edition of the Dawn newspaper, the attacker tried to enter the main office of the Rescue 15 building from the rear of the compound where around 50 officials were present.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants have intensified their offensive against security personnel and civilians in Pakistan's major cities to avenge the ongoing military operation in the northwestern Swat district.
More than two dozen people, many of them policemen, were killed on May 27 when a suicide bomber assisted by gunmen attacked police and intelligence offices in the eastern city of Lahore.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the Saturday attack.
Zardari said the perpetrators of such cowardly acts will not succeed in their ulterior motives and the government was determined to stamp out extremism and terrorism from the country.
Gilani, while condemning the blast, has ordered an immediate inquiry and directed the authorities to provide the best medical care to the injured.
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