A gas leak sparked an explosion and fire that killed two workers at a nuclear plant believed to produce enriched plutonium for Pakistan’s atomic weapons programme.

Police guards shot and killed a suicide attacker today as he tried to sneak into a training facility for 900 police recruits in eastern Pakistan, preventing him from detonating his explosives.

Five suspected members of an outlawed Islamic militant group blamed for killing Shi’ite Muslims and attacks targeting Westerners and Christians in Pakistan have been arrested, police said today.