PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber in a rickshaw detonated his explosives near a group of policemen in northwest Pakistan's main city of Peshawar, killing three people yesterday, police said.

The attack was the latest in a string of strikes that has killed more than 300 people over the past six weeks. The bloodshed appears aimed at distracting the government from its offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal region.

Five other people were wounded in the blast at an intersection on the main road that circles the city, police official Shaukat Khan said. TV footage showed a crane lifting the rickshaw's carcass to clear the road.