Suicide bomber destroys spy building

Suicide bombers struck at the heart of Pakistan's anti-terror campaign today, devastating the country's main spy agency in an attack that left at least nine people dead and 55 injured.

The blast demolished the three-storey building of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency in the north-western city of Peshawar and wrecked many cars in the street outside.

One building in the complex collapsed. Many people were trapped in the debris this morning as rescue efforts continued.

A separate suicide car bomb attack this morning at a police station in the same region, killed three people.

The ISI used CIA money to train jihadi groups to fight the Soviet Union in the Eighties.

Some Western officials believe it is an unreliable ally and that it maintains links with militants.

The blast in Peshawar was the latest in a string of bloody attacks since the government launched an anti-terror offensive last month in the border region of South Waziristan.

Security forces opened fire on the attacking vehicle in an attempt to stop it but failed.

Azmat Ali, a 30-year-old mechanic, said: "I was busy at work then suddenly I heard gunfire. I saw a vehicle moving towards the ISI building and then there was a huge blast."

Pakistan prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack, saying his country's resolve to deal with militants would not be weakened.