A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle close to a residential area in Islamabad on December 23, killing an officer, police said, an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban as the militant group has been stepping up a violence campaign against the government.
At least three police officers and seven passersby were wounded in the bombing.
Deputy Chief of Police Sohail Zafar Chatta said that the timely intervention of the police prevented a potentially major attack.
Chattha said police had received intelligence about an upcoming attack, and beefed up security in the area before spotting a man and a woman traveling in a "suspicious vehicle."
When police manning a checkpoint ordered the car to stop, the man detonated the explosives, killing himself as well as the police officer and the woman passenger, Chatta said.
Police said that the initial investigation into the incident established that the vehicle was loaded with 18 kilograms of explosives.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the vehicle was headed for a high-value target in the Pakistani capital, but gave no further details.
"If the vehicle had reached its target, it would have caused heavy losses," Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told Pakistan's Geo News TV.
The blast in Islamabad occurred 15 kilometers from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where the military and government intelligence agencies are located.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif thanked the police and condemned the attack.
"Police officers stopped the terrorists by sacrificing their blood and the nation salutes its brave men," Sharif said in a statement.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has stepped up attacks after ending a monthslong cease-fire with the government last month.
Muhammad Khalid Khurasani, a TTP spokesman, said in a statement that the attack was in revenge for the killing of a senior leader.
Abdul Wali, alias Omar Khalid Khorasani, considered one of the most influential and ruthless TTP leaders, was killed in a roadside bombing in August in Afghanistan's Paktika Province, and the TTP has blamed Pakistani intelligence for the killing.
The car bombing comes days after Pakistani special forces killed 25 suspected TTP-linked militants in a raid on a detention center in Bannu, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The suspected militants detained there had overpowered their guards and taken them hostage.
Three troops and at least three hostages were also killed in the special forces' raid.