A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court complex here on Thursday killing at least 17 people and injuring 45, the latest in a string of terror attacks in Pakistan as the military pressed ahead with a major anti- Taliban offensive in the restive northwestern tribal belt.

The bomber exploded when he was stopped by policemen guarding the gate of the Judicial Complex on Khyber Road within Peshawar cantonment, considered a high-security area as the residence of the army Corps Commander, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assembly and offices of provincial ministers are located nearby.

Officials at the Lady Reading Hospital said they received 15 bodies while two other persons succumbed to their injuries later. Shahib Gul, the deputy medical superintendent of the hospital, told reporters that 45 people were also injured and five of them were in a critical condition. Three policemen were among the dead, said district administration chief Shahibzada Anees.

"The bomber was on foot and tried to enter the main gate of the Judicial Complex. When the security personnel stopped him and were searching him, he blew himself up," Anees told media at the site of the attack.

Police cordoned off the area and briefly blocked Khyber Road as ambulances ferried bodies and the injured to hospital. Witnesses said the bomber, a youth in his twenties with a slight beard, came to the area in a taxi.

Officials of the bomb disposal squad said eight to 10 kg of explosives were used in the attack. Two cars burst into flames after the blast. Several other cars, auto-rickshaws and motorcycles were also destroyed by the blast.

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