PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber struck a court in Peshawar today, killing 19 people, the sixth attack on the northwestern city in 11 days, as Pakistani troops press a major anti-Taliban offensive.

The bomber hit at the main gate of the building, near the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel, where at least nine people were killed when attackers shot their way through a security checkpost and blew up a truck bomb in June.

Blood, flesh and shattered window glass littered the ground outside the court building, where an old man who used to repair spectacles and fountain pens was killed, an AFP reporter said.

Today’s attack showed the militants’ ability to strike in the city of 2.5 million people, which lies on the edge of Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, where US officials say Al-Qaeda militants are plotting attacks on the West.

Attacks in the northwest have soared as 30,000 Pakistani troops press into Taliban strongholds in the hostile terrain near the border with Afghanistan, where 100,000 NATO and US troops are fighting a deadly insurgency.

“It was a suicide blast. The attacker was on foot and was trying to enter the judicial complex. When the security personnel stopped him, he blew himself up,” Sahib Zada Anis, head of the city’s administration, told reporters.

“The death toll has risen to 19 as three seriously injured persons died in hospital,” Anis told AFP, saying three policemen were among the dead.

The police said the bomber blew himself up as a van carrying prisoners passed.

“It was a huge explosion. I saw smoke and dust everywhere. I fell on the stairs and then I started running to save my life,” said Haji Hijab Gul, who was walking upstairs to court when he heard the blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday’s bombing, but Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has vowed to attack the cities to avenge a military assault on its South Waziristan stronghold, now into a fifth week.

“We’ve taken control of all their stronghold. We have destroyed militants. Their commanders have either run away or been killed,” PM Yousuf Raza Gilani said in Islamabad.