A suspected suicide bomber killed a policeman in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad today, police said.
The blast occurred at a checkpoint at the gate of a police station in the Sitara Market neighbourhood of the capital, police said.
"The bomber was on foot, and when the guards tried to stop him at the checkpost he blew himself up," said Rana Akbar, a senior official in the city administration. He said one policeman was killed and another wounded.
Express Television said its reporter saw the remains of a suspected suicide bomber.
A Reuters reporter at the scene said there did not appear to have been extensive damage.
Taliban militants and jihadi groups linked to al-Qaeda have run a campaign of violence to try to destabilise Pakistan, a nuclear power seen as key to stability in the region.
A suicide truck bomb attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad last September and the assault by gunmen on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore this month were measures of the growing danger.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari called on Britain and the United States earlier today to do more to help his government fight terrorism.
Mr Zardari said his Pakistan People's Party had brought democracy to the country after more than eight years under the military rule of General Pervez Musharraf, and the international community should now play its part.
Asked in an interview on Sky News to outline his key message to Britain and the United States, he said: "The message is: You've got democracy, democracy is part of the solution - but . . . the second part of the solution is with you, so please give us the help that we need.
Reuters