ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market on the outskirts of Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday, causing several casualties, police said.

The attack took place in Matni village, close to the lawless tribal lands where Islamist militants are active.

Shah Sawar Khan, a police official in Matni said, there were several casualties and "there may be a few deaths.

An official with Peshawar control room said: "Initial reports suggest it was a suicide attack."

Islamist militants have unleashed a campaign of bomb and suicide attacks in Pakistan in recent weeks in retaliation for a major offensive launched by security forces in their main bastion, South Waziristan, on the Afghan border.

Last month, more than 100 people were killed in a car bombing in Peshawar in the deadliest attack in the country in two years.

(Reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)