At least four people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a press club in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

The bomber blew himself up at the gate of the club when police prevented him from entering. The police officer who stopped him, a press club employee and a woman, were also killed. Ten other people, among them a number of journalists, were injured. The attack is thought to be the work of an Islamist extremist.

Local authorities say this is the first time an attack has been carried out on journalists in a Pakistani city. Peshawar lies in the troubled northwest of the country, where the Taliban have recently stepped up bomb attacks in a bid to avenge Pakistan military operations trying to eradicate their strongholds. They have targeted security forces and, increasingly, civilians.