Pakistan 'suicide bomb kills 16'

The attacker blew himself up as police tried to arrest him near a checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan in North-West Frontier Province, authorities said.

Two policemen and a soldier were among those killed in the blast, police told the BBC. Twelve people were hurt.

Suicide attacks by pro-Taleban militant groups have soared since troops stormed a radical Islamabad mosque in July.

'Cornered'

The bomber struck in the Bannu Chungi area of Dera Ismail Khan, local police officials said.

Police say they spotted a suspicious-looking man and chased him.

"When we cornered him and signalled him to stop, he blew himself up," a police official told the BBC.

The blast occurred next to a minivan full of passengers. The injured have been taken for treatment at the local district hospital.

At least 100 people were killed when troops moved in to oust armed militants from the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in July.

The operation prompted pro-Taleban militants in tribal areas near the Afghan border to end a controversial cease-fire with the Pakistan army.

Several hundred people have been killed in an upsurge of violence since, and scores of Pakistani troops kidnapped.