Chaos in Pakistan continues with deadly suicide bombing

At least 34 people are dead, and many more injured, after a suicide attack on a busy commercial area close to the Pakistani army's headquarters in Rawalpindi today.

In the second attack in the high security zone within a month, a bomber on a motorbike blew himself up outside a crowded bank.

According to officials, many of the victims were elderly people who had gathered at the bank to withdraw their pensions. Several offices, a part of a nearby hotel and a number of vehicles were destroyed. The windows of a nearby shopping mall were blown out.

Schools across the city have been closed. Doctors at a district hospital said the death toll could rise, as many of the injured were in a critical state. Some bodies could not be identified.

Ali Babar, a rescue official at the scene, told the Associated Press: "The bodies were lying all over. This is a terrible thing. It is happening again and again."

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban are suspected. They have carried out many similar attacks across Pakistan in recent weeks in response to an army assault on their stronghold in South Waziristan.

Newspapers carried advertisements offering a £360,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, or his top lieutenants, Wali-ur Rehman and Qari Hussain.

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Pakistani foreign minister, condemned the attack, saying: "Such barbaric, inhuman and un-Islamic terrorist acts only strengthen our resolve to fight terrorism with more vitality."

The attack came as the UN said it was halting all development work n two key areas along Pakistan's volatile border with Afghanistan, citing security concerns.

The move, a blow to international efforts to counter the country's rising militancy, comes after 11 UN staff were killed this year.

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