NOWSHERA, Dec 15: Five people were killed and 20 others injured on Saturday when a man riding a bicycle blew himself up at the main gate of a military facility — the Army Services Centre colony — in the Nowshera Cantonment.

The man set off explosives when a guard on duty stopped him at the gate for body search at about 9.25am, killing the guard and four civilians and injuring 20 others, among them eight troops.

Many soldiers were busy in routine exercises at a nearby parade ground when the blast took place.

The dead were identified as soldier Majid Nawaz and civilians Mohammad Riaz, Abdul Karim, and Ahmad Bashir and Bilal, who were students of the ASC College, Nowshera.

Eyewitnesses said body parts of the victims were scattered all around and the explosion was heard far and wide.

The injured were taken to the Combined Military Hospital, which reported that four of them were in critical condition. According to hospital sources, six of the injured were discharged after treatment.

AP adds: ISPR spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad said two soldiers and three civilians died, in addition to the bomber, while six people were injured in the attack.