Islamabad  - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside the Pakistani air force's main production and maintenance facility in the eastern province of Punjab on Friday, killing seven people and wounding over a dozen more, police said.

The attacker, who was on a bicycle, blew himself up when he was stopped at a checkpoint near the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in the town of Kamra, located 65 kilometers north-west of Islamabad.

"Seven people have been killed and 14 others injured in the blast that took place at around 7:30 am (0130 GMT)," local police chief Fakhar Sultan Raja said.

Two of the dead were air force personnel and the others were civilians, according to Raja.

Earlier a local junior police officer said it was a car bombing.

The attack was the latest in a series of bombings and raids on security targets that have killed nearly 180 people in October alone, as Pakistani forces pressed ahead with a major offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal district.

Islamabad was the scene of earlier strikes, including twin suicide bombings at an Islamic university which killed at least seven people. Five students - three women and two men - were among the casualties.

On Thursday, gunmen shot dead an army brigadier and his driver in an ambush.

More than 30,000 Pakistani ground troops launched the operation codenamed "Path to Deliverance" on Saturday to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaeda sanctuaries in South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.

Seven days of fighting has left 129 rebels dead. They have put up stiff resistance by employing guerrilla tactics, taking advantage of the difficult terrain.

Pakistani forces have moved into South Waziristan three times since 2004 but suffered heavy casualties. Each time troops retreated after controversial peace deals that left the militants even stronger. (dpa)