Lethal blast hits Pakistani hotel

An explosion has killed five people and injured at least 25 at a luxury hotel in the north-west Pakistani city of Peshawar, officials say.

Injured people could be seen on TV footage from the scene


Police named the hotel as the five-star Pearl Continental, and an unconfirmed report suggests that foreign guests are among those hurt.

Peshawar is capital of Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province.

A series of bombs have hit cities including Peshawar since a government crackdown on Taliban militants.

TV reports said the hotel had been subjected to a gun and bomb attack.

A government investigator, Sahibzada Anees, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying officials were trying to establish whether a device had been planted or it was a suicide attack.

Pearl Continental's website describes its hotel in Peshawar as "overlooking the famous Peshawar golf course and the historic Bala Hisar Fort".

Government forces launched an offensive earlier this year to crush a Taliban-led uprising in the Swat valley aimed at enforcing Sharia law.

Taliban leaders have promised to launch revenge attacks on major Pakistani cities and claimed a bombing in Lahore last month which left at least 28 people dead.