At least ten people have been killed in the Pakistani city of Peshawar as a suicide bomber struck outside a court. Dozens more have been injured in the attack.

According to a statement by a provincial minister, a man wearing explosives rode up to a district court building in the centre of the city in a rickshaw, got off and tried to enter the building. He was held back by security officials and then blew himself up.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Peshawar - the capital of northwest Pakistan - has borne the brunt of Taliban attacks avenging military offensives against them across the region.

The offensive on Taliban strongholds has been particularly stepped up in South Waziristan, a mountainous region in the northwest near Afghanistan. Suicide bombings have intensified, with more than 270 people killed by suicide bombers in the city since early October.

Peshawar street scene by Jungle Boy (flickr)