“A suicide bomber has killed at least five people and injured many more in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, after detonating explosives near an army and police checkpoint, police say. The blast occurred on Thursday on the city’s busy Mall Road, home to government offices, banks and private companies, an all-girls school, and a military residential district. The bomber was targeting the military residences and approached the checkpoint by foot, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reported quoting Pakistani police. ‘To get into that area, you have to go through three layers of security. The bomber got to the first layer of security, where he blew himself up,’ he said. Initial reports said three civilians were among those killed in the blast, while around 26 people were injured. ‘It’s very typical of the attacks that we’ve seen the Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for,’ our correspondent said. The bomb site is close to a church, where Pakistan’s Christian minority were preparing to celebrate Christmas.”