day, killing 15 people and wounding 22 in what appeared to be Pakistan's first female suicide attack, officials said. The blast underscored the growing Islamic militant threat in Pakistan, five days before its U.S.-allied strongman seeks re-election as president.
The woman had been riding in a rickshaw when it was pulled over by police at a checkpoint in the town of Bannu, local police chief Ameer Hamza Mahsud said.
Investigators at the scene determined that it was a suicide attack and that the bomber was a woman who had been wearing the head to-toe burqa veil commonly worn in Pakistan's northwest and in neighboring Afghanistan, Mahsud told The Associated Press.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. Forensic experts would examine the attacker's dismembered body for clues to her identity, Mahsud said.
However, he said it was possible that the bomber came from the nearby tribal belt along the Afghan frontier, where militants affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida have seized considerable control.
While there have been reports of some women being trained to carry out suicide bombings in Pakistan, Monday's blast appeared to be the first confirmation of such an attack in either Pakistan or Afghanistan.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad identified the fatalities as four police officers and 11 other people, including the bomber. Mahsud said casualties were high because scores of people were crowded around a nearby bus stand.
Bannu is near the North Waziristan tribal region, about 110 miles south of Peshawar.
In recent months, militants have staged almost daily attacks on security forces in North Waziristan and surrounding areas since the breakdown of a peace agreement.
The 2006 agreement had drawn criticism from the United States that it had given al-Qaida breathing space to regroup and perhaps plot new attacks on the West.
But the deal's demise and a wave of violence including suicide attacks in otherwise peaceful parts of Pakistan have fanned concern here that the country is sacrificing its stability at the behest of Washington.
That debate has tarnished the standing of unpopular President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, but not deterred him from seeking another five-year presidential term.
Allies of Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, are confident that he will win Saturday's ballot among federal and provincial lawmakers, despite bitter political opposition and a flood of legal challenges to his candidacy.
The general wants to be re-elected while he is still army chief. Opponents claim that would violate the constitution, although Musharraf has pledged to give up his powerful military post if he wins.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered three officials suspended after 83 people, including dozens of journalists and lawyers, were hurt when police used batons and tear gas to disperse a weekend protest against Musharraf.
Judges watched television footage of the clashes on a screen set up in a courtroom packed with lawyers and journalists, some sporting bandages on their arms and heads.
