Blast outside Pakistan spy agency kills four

ISLAMABAD: A car bomb exploded Friday outside the office of a Pakistani intelligence agency in the north-western city of Peshawar, killing at least four people, officials said.

Up to 16 people were wounded in the blast that took place in the city's Khyber Road area at around 6:45 am, said Abdullah Khan, a duty officer at the emergency department of the state-run Lady Reading Hospital.

"We have so far received four bodies and injured people are still pouring in," Khan said.

The explosion severely damaged the intelligence agency's building, and officials fear that people might be trapped under the rubble.

Friday's bombing was the latest in the string of attacks that hit Pakistani towns and cities after troops launched an offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border in mid-October.