Aftermath of the Islamabad suicide bombing, 06 Jul 2008

Security officials in Pakistan say a suicide bomb attack targeting police has killed at least 15 people, and injured more than 22 others, near the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

Officials say most of the victims were police.

The blast happened just after several thousand Islamists had rallied nearby to mark the first anniversary of an army siege and raid on the Red Mosque.

Officials say the bomber targeted police who were deployed as part of security precautions for the rally.

President Pervez Musharraf has condemned the bombing as a terrorist act.

Pakistani men react as they listen to speeches of their clerics next to Islamabad's radical Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Pakistan, 06 Jul 2008

Pakistani security forces had strict security in place for the protest, with road blocks and barbed wire fencing to prevent vehicles from entering the area.

More than 100 people were killed during fighting at the mosque in early July last year. Pakistan security forces stormed the compound after an eight-day siege. The mosque's hardline clerics and supporters had waged a violent campaign to impose strict Taliban-style law in Pakistan.

The army operation at the Red Mosque last year unleashed a wave of suicide bombings across Pakistan by pro-Taliban militants in which hundreds of people were killed.