More Bomb Blasts in Northwest Pakistan

Police say a bomb blast has killed four people and wounded six in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan.

Shortly before that, two bombs exploded in a market in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing six people.

Gunmen on rooftops ambushed police as they arrived at the scene.

After the two blasts, a suicide bomber attacked a paramilitary post in another part of Peshawar.

Three soldiers were killed. A wounded soldier said five of his comrades were killed earlier.

Militant violence in nuclear-armed Pakistan, with attacks on security forces, as well as on government and Western targets, has surged since mid-2007.

Pakistan is vital for U.S. plans to defeat al Qaeda and cut support for the Afghan Taliban.

The United States has been heartened by a military offensive against the Taliban in their Swat bastion, northwest of Islamabad.

But there have been eight militant attacks since the army began battling militants in the region in April.

Some fear that violence could erode public support for the campaign.