The death toll from a suicide bombing in Pakistan rose to 28 yesterday as investigators attempted to identify the bomber who tried to kill the interior minister.

The lone suicide bomber blew himself up on Saturday just three meters from Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao at the end of a public gathering in Charsadda, in North West of Frontier Province (NWFP).

Sherpao sustained minor injuries on his both legs from shrapnel and pellets in the attack. One of his aides and several of his security detail were killed.

Investigators found the severed head and torso of the grey-bearded suspect and were trying to establish his identity. Officials say the attack may have been plotted by Islamist militants.

"It is a continuation of what is going on in our tribal areas and across the border in Afghanistan," said Asif Iqbal Daudzai, NWFP information minister.

A senior police investigator, Fayyaz Turu, said the bomber appeared to be in his 30s. "He is either an Afghan or belongs to our tribal areas," he said.

"The pattern of attack was similar to previous ones, all of which had links in our tribal areas," he said.

Authorities were preparing a sketch of the suspect to help identify him.

Speaking to reporters in Peshawar, Sherpao declined to speculate on who was behind the attack but said that the "war against extremism and terrorism will continue".

Karzai calls Sherpao

Officials yesterday said the death toll had risen to 28 from 26 and around 52 people were wounded.

Pakistan has been plagued by bomb attacks by Islamist militants following President Pervez Musharraf's decision in 2001 to join a US-led war on terrorism.

There were a spate of suicide attacks earlier this year, including one in the capital, Islamabad.

Musharraf himself has survived at least three Al-Qaida-inspired assassination attempts.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai telephoned Sherpao, a fellow ethnic Pashtun, soon after the attack to ask how he was.

North West Frontier province is one of the most volatile regions of Pakistan.

Al-Qaida and the Taliban have drawn support from the fiercely independent tribesmen there, particularly in North and South Waziristan, the poorest of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions.

A missile strike in Saidgai village in North Waziristan on Friday killed at least three suspected Islamists militants.

Editor: Donald