A suspected suicide attacker set off a bomb yesterday at Islam-abad's Marriott Hotel, killing at least one person and wounding at least five others, officials said.
Police cordoned off the scene of the blast in the city's downtown near the parliament building and the office of the president.
The wounded were being taken to a hospital.
"It seems it was a suicide attack, but officers are still investigating," Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said.
Sherpao said one person had been killed.
An intelligence official at the scene said two people had died -- a security guard and the suspected attacker -- and at least five were wounded.
Initial reports indicated that the guard had intercepted the attacker as he tried to enter the hotel's nightclub, he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Police official Abdul Ghaffar said one other hotel guard was in a critical condition.
Police used wooden boards and white sheets to seal off the bomb site, but an Associated Press reporter could see that a side entrance to the hotel -- used for access to the nightclub -- was badly damaged by the blast.
Shoes and strips of clothing could be seen among the wrecked masonry. Two cars parked nearby were also damaged.
The hotel, often frequented by the foreign community, was targeted in an October 2004 bombing that wounded several people.
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