Gunmen attacked the Pearl Continental Hotel in the Pakistani city of Peshawar before setting off a huge bomb that killed at least five people and wounded many more, officials said last night.

Early reports suggested that this was the latest in a series of suicide attacks over the last year by militants against state buildings and targets frequented by foreigners and members of the country's secular elite.

It was not immediately clear if the attack was caused by a suicide bomber or came from a bomb planted somewhere near the hotel's main lobby where the explosion took place. The blast left a crater just outside the main entrance.