A teenage suicide bomber dressed in school uniform has blown himself up at an army compound in Pakistan, killing at least 31 people, officials say

He attacked as recruits exercised at a parade ground of the Punjab Regiment, inside an enclosed military area of the north-western city of Mardan. A Taliban militant said his group had carried out the bombing. Such attacks on the army have decreased recently as militants have largely targeted civilian areas. The Taliban have long been trying to launch an attack in the Mardan cantonment - the city's enclosed military area. In the aftermath of the bombing, police and soldiers are manning the entrance to the Mardan compound. There is a queue of ambulances outside the main entrance, and the security forces are checking everyone coming in and out. The bomber managed to slip past at least six checkpoints by wearing the uniform of a college located inside the cantonment. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack. Mardan police official Abdullah Khan said that the teenage bomber had worn the uniform of the Aziz Bhatti College. Militants have increasingly been using teenage bombers across Pakistan. Pakistani troops have uncovered camps in the north-west where children as young as 10 or 12 were being trained to become suicide attackers. But in recent times, militants have focused suicide attacks on civilian targets such as places of worship and sporting events.