Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar has advised Malaysians against travelling to Pakistan in view of the recent wave of violence and bomb attacks in the southern part of the country.

"The situation in Pakistan is unstable. I think it is very dangerous for our people unless there is a pressing need to go there and we must be careful when visiting Islamabad, Karachi and other similar places," he said.

"We should avoid going there so that we don't get caught in the crossfire," he said in a Star report today.

Direct confrontation

The foreign minister was asked to comment on an incident where a vehicle carrying Chinese citizens was targeted by a suicide bomber in the southwestern town of Hub outside Karachi, killing at least 30 Pakistanis but none of the Chinese nationals on Thursday.

There was also a suicide bombing in the northwestern town of Hangu, which killed six people, and a blast at a Peshawar mosque, which killed at least 15 people and injured about 30.

On Wednesday, President Pervez Musharraf, who had ordered the raid on the Islamabad mosque, had said that Pakistan was in "direct confrontation" with Islamic militants.

On Malaysian students in Pakistan, Syed Hamid said he had received a report that they were safe.