Bombings in Peshawar Kill 17, at Least 100 Wounded

Ten people died and at least 60 were wounded when a massive car bomb targeted the intelligence agency that plays a central role in Pakistan's anti-terrorism campaigns, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for North West Frontier Province.

The 800-pound bomb ripped through the Inter-Services Intelligence's provincial headquarters, collapsing large parts of the multistory building in central Peshawar, CNN reports.

It was also reported, a t least 100 people were injured, Zulfiqar Khan of the Edhi Foundation, which runs the country’s largest ambulance service, said by telephone. The office of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency in North West Frontier Province was damaged by the blast, he said.

Militants have mounted a campaign of suicide bombings and attacks after Pakistan’s army last month began its largest offensive to clear pro-Taliban fighters from South Waziristan, a tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

More than 300 people have been killed since mid-October in attacks in towns and cities, including the capital, Islamabad.

The militants are mounting a “desperate” guerrilla war after suffering defeats in South Waziristan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Nov. 10. , Bloomberg reports.

News agencies also report, Peshawar, situated in the northwest, not far from the government offensive against the Taliban, has been a frequent target of militant attacks.

The blast in Islamabad was so powerful it was heard 20 kilometers away.

The spy agency targeted in the bombing oversees much of the government's anti-terror campaign in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

In another incident Friday, police say a suicide car bomber struck a police station near the northwestern town of Bannu, killing at least three police officers. At least 23 people were wounded.

In southwest Pakistan, police say militants attacked oil tankers taking fuel to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. One driver was killed, and five tankers were set on fire, Voice of America reports.