ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A bomber blew himself up about 200 yards from the main terminal at Islamabad's international airport last night, in the latest attack on a high-profile target in or near the Pakistani capital by suspected Islamic militants.
The attacker, challenged by security guards as he tried to enter the airport on foot shortly after 9 p.m., first opened fire with a pistol and then set off a grenade, according to witnesses and officials. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had intended to kill himself.
At least three security officials were wounded in the gunfire and the subsequent blast, Pakistani authorities said; the attacker was the only fatality.
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is considered a key ally in the U.S.-led battle against the Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, but his administration has come under increasing scrutiny from Western governments and from Afghanistan, which claims Pakistani intelligence is actively supporting the Taliban. Pakistan denies any such complicity.