Suicide bomber on bike kills eight

A SUICIDE bomber killed seven people near a major air force complex in northwest Pakistan yesterday, while an explosion killed 17 on a bus heading to a wedding elsewhere in the region, the latest in a surge of militant attacks this month.

The bloodshed has coincided with the run-up and first week of a major army offensive in a Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold along the Afghan border.

About 200 people have died as the insurgents have shown they can strike in a variety of ways and places in the nuclear-armed, US-allied nation.