Rockets explode at Pak airport runway

Rockets fired by suspected Taliban militants yesterday slightly damaged the runway of airport in northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, but caused no casualties, officials said.
Two rockets hit the runway of Peshawar airport, at around 2:00 am local time (2100 GMT Monday), damaging it slightly. Another landed in the garden of a military official's residence, police official Jamal Khan told AFP.
Pakistani newspapers reported Monday that the new commander of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, would visit Peshawar as part of his first tour of the country.
A spokesman for the US Embassy in Islamabad told AFP he could not comment on the general's itinerary for security reasons and was unaware of the rocket attacks.
An airport official said the attack did not disrupt the flights schedule as the runway remained open even after taking slight damage.
Other police and airport officials said that two rockets had also exploded at the airport runway early Monday, but there was no damage or casualties.
Police did not say who could be behind the rocket attacks but a security official said on condition of anonymity that "it was the work of Taliban" militants.
The airport, which also houses an air force base, has come under rocket attacks in the past. Peshawar is the capital city of North West Frontier Province, where Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked militants are active.
Meanwhile, a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday at a checkpost in a remote northwestern Pakistan district, killing a soldier and injuring seven others, officials said.
The attack took place in the town of Doaba in northwestern Hangu district, which has a history of sectarian and militant violence.
"One soldier embraced martyrdom," a military spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity. Seven others were injured, he added.
Earlier, the mayor of the town of Hangu, Khan Afzal, said: "A suicide bomber attacked an army checkpost."
Police official Mohammad Hanif said the injured were paramilitary and police personnel manning the checkpost outside the town's main market.
"The bombing took place when paramilitary soldiers and police were checking cars entering Doaba market," Hanif told AFP, adding it appeared the bomber had been on foot.