Suicide attack kills six in Pakistan

A suicide bomber killed at least six people in an attack today on a Pakistan naval college.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said a mini-bus entered the college in the eastern city of Lahore and that a suicide bomber following closely behind blew up his vehicle.

The bomber killed himself and four others in the initial attack, but two more people died in secondary explosions that followed, and 19 were wounded.

It was the fourth suicide attack in Pakistan in five days. Over 500 people have been killed in related violence since the start of the year, stoking fears over the deteriorating security situation in the state.

Tackling the violence will provide a tough test for the incoming government following elections two weeks ago which saw no clear winner emerge, leading to coalition talks between various parties mostly hostile to President Pervez Musharraf.

Elsewhere in Pakistan today, five people, including four militants, were killed in a gun battle with police near the town of Lakki Marwat in the northwest, police said.

The shootout, near the town where three police were killed by a roadside bomb on Friday, broke out after militants kidnapped a local councillor and two colleagues.