Islamabad (PTI): A high alert was sounded in Pakistan's capital on Sunday where a bomb exploded in an Italian restaurant frequented by foreigners last night, killing a Turkish woman and wounding 12 others, prompting foreign embassies to warn their citizens to be careful.

Several senior Pakistani bureaucrats and diplomats of various countries, including the Indian High Commissioner, live in neighbourhoods near Super Market where the Luna Caprese restaurant was targeted.

US and British embassy personnel were among the wounded in the first apparent attack targeting foreigners in Pakistan which has been rocked by a spate of suicide bombings by the local Taliban.

The US embassy asked its nationals "to avoid areas where Westerners are known to congregate and to maintain a low profile."

"American citizens should stay alert, be aware of their surroundings, reduce travel to a minimum, and act self-defensively," a notice posted on the embassy's website said.

The blast came despite authorities stepping up security across Islamabad ahead of the first session of the new National Assembly on Monday.

Concrete barriers lined streets in the posh neighbourhood while police stepped up vehicle checks.

The Foreign Ministry said the dead Turkish woman worked for a foreign aid group.

Five US citizens were listed as undergoing surgery. One Japanese citizen, one Canadian, one Briton and three Pakistanis also were wounded.