(Reuters) - A suicide attack killed at least seven people, including the bomber, on Tuesday less than a kilometre from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's army residence in Rawalpindi, police said.
The attacker blew himself up next to a police checkpoint just metres from the gates to the residence of one of Musharraf's most senior officers, General Tariq Majid, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Recently promoted, Majid had not yet moved in.
A Reuters photographer saw a head hanging from the branches of a tree. Typically the upward force from a suicide bomber's exploding vest blows the head off.
U.S. ally General Musharraf was meeting army commanders at General Headquarters some 2 km (one mile) away at the time of the blast, officials said.
Hours later, inaugurating a highway in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Musharraf spoke of the militancy fanning out from tribal areas in the province.
"If we do not stop this deluge, if we do not check this extremism and terrorism, there could be serious problems for Pakistan," Musharraf said in a speech.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is suffering mounting political uncertainty and insecurity, as U.S. ally Musharraf, who came to power in a coup eight years ago, tries to engineer a transition to civilian-led democracy while remaining at the helm.
The latest attack took place on a road where many of Pakistan's top brass reside.