A suspected suicide bomber has attacked a political rally in northwest Pakistan, while bombs have gone off across Peshwar, killing at least six at targets including the US consulate.
At least 38 people were killed and over 100 wounded in the town of Timargarah in Lower Dir, officials say.
Shortly afterwards, multiple explosions and gunfire rocked the nearby city of Peshawar, close to the US consulate and sensitive military installations, witnesses and a security official say.
The US embassy in Islamabad soon confirmed an attack at the American consulate, with reports saying that six were killed in a thwarted attack.
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"We can confirm there has been an attack at the US consulate Peshawar facilities," US embassy spokeswoman Ariel Howard told AFP, but was unable to provide details.
It was unclear if the incidents in Peshawar and Timargarah were related.
Gun battles in Peshawar
Television showed bouts of heavy gunfire on Monday, and clouds of smoke rising over the garrison part of the city, close to the US consulate and the Peshawar headquarters of Pakistan's top spy agency, which was bombed last November.
Al Jazeera reported a gun battle between attackers with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles.
Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior minister in the North West Frontier Province government, says the militants came in two vehicles, and were well-equipped and well-organised.
At around 20.30 AEDT, he said the situation was under control.
Peshawar, which lies on the edge of Pakistan's tribal belt heavy with al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, has been subject to numerous attacks by Islamist militants, including in recent days.
38 killed by suicide bomber
Not long before the Peshawar blasts, a suicide bomber killed 38 people and wounded scores more at a celebration organised by the leading secular political party in Timargarah.
Pakistan is battling al-Qaeda and Taliban militants blamed for a string of attacks over the last 18 months, most of them in the northwest, close to the Afghan border where the insurgents have enjoyed sanctuary in the past.
The blast in Lower Dir district hit a rally by the secular Awami National Party, the region's ruling party and a prominent supporter of army offensives against the militants.
Hakim Mohammad, a doctor at a local hospital, earlier said 19 people had been killed and 110 people wounded, but the death toll steadily climbed.
ANP party spokesman Zahid Khan said the attack happened as its members were rallying in support of a recent proposal to change the name of North West Frontier Province.
