A MILITANT blew himself up in a bank in Islamabad today – the first suicide attack in the Pakistani capital for nearly two years.

The attack comes with Pakistan on edge weeks after US Navy SEALs found and killed Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad, two hours’ drive from Islamabad, in a case that humiliated the seemingly all-powerful military.

Police said the suicide bomber had tried to enter a branch of the Silk Bank in Islamabad’s I-8 sector but had detonated his explosives in a hurry when a guard had rushed to resist him.

“It seems to be a suicide attack. We have found the head and the body parts of the bomber,” city police chief Wajid Durrani told reporters.

“One security guard is confirmed dead while two others are injured.”

The front of the bank was badly damaged and hoardings smashed. Pieces of human flesh were scattered on the floor and several cars parked outside were also damaged.

Islamabad is the most heavily protected city in the country and today’s suicide attack was the first in the capital since December 2009, when a bomber attacked Pakistan’s navy headquarters, killing one person.

Security officials today also said that a roadside bomb in the Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan had killed at least three Pakistani soldiers and wounded three others.

The soldiers had been on patrol in the hamlet of Ladha, checking for mines ahead of a military convoy.

On Sunday, three men were injured when another roadside bomb went off, this time near Malpur village just outside Islamabad. Police said it the device had long been buried.