Fatal blast near Musharraf's HQ

The attack follows a number of recent bombings in Pakistan

A suicide bomb attack has killed at least seven people and injured 11 near Pakistan's army headquarters, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Officials said the blast occurred some 2km (1.24 miles) away from a secure compound containing the army HQ and President Pervez Musharraf's office.

General Musharraf was in his office at the time of the attack, but was unhurt.

The attack follows a number of recent bombings in Pakistan, which have been blamed on Islamic militants.

No group has said it carried out the latest bombing. The location of the explosion was a police checkpoint.

A man had approached the checkpoint on foot and detonated his explosives, a government spokesman said.

Two policemen and two paramilitary soldiers were among those killed by the explosion, along with the suspected bomber. The dead and injured included passers-by.

President Musharraf was safe inside his headquarters in Army House discussing the security situation with senior officials when the bomb went off, according to presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi.

People living and working nearby told the BBC they had heard a huge explosion.

"The blast was so loud and powerful that the windows of my office shook with the sound of it," one man said. "My office is nearly 1.7km from the exact location."