ISLAMABAD, (Reuters) – A Taliban suicide bomber  killed eight people outside a key Pakistani airforce facility  yesterday, with officials quick to deny suggestions the target  was linked to the country’s nuclear programme.  

The bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body at a  checkpoint outside the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra,  75 km (45 miles) northwest of the capital, Islamabad.  

Hours later, a car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in  the northwestern city of Peshawar, wounding 15 people, two of  them seriously, officials said.  

The attacks were launched amid a major army offensive  against Pakistani Taliban militant strongholds in South  Waziristan, near the Afghan border.  

The offensive has raised fears the insurgents will step up  a suicide bombing campaign on urban targets. More than 150  people have been killed in a series of brazen attacks in the  past few weeks.