Target: Yousaf Raza Gilani

Pakistan's prime minister survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday  -  just hours before he was due to meet David Cameron.

Extremists fired at least two shots at Yousaf Raza Gilani's armoured car in Islamabad.

Sources said the bullets penetrated the vehicle's bomb-proof glass but Mr Gilani was not inside it at the time.

Mr Cameron heard of the attack as he held talks with the prime minister's close ally Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, who was killed by militants in December.

The security around Mr Cameron  -  visiting Pakistan as part of a campaign to burnish his credentials as an international statesman  -  was immediately stepped up.

He said: 'The incident is a reminder of the permanent threat from terrorism that this country faces.

'I think that coming so soon after Benazir Bhutto's appalling assassination, and the terrible number of suicide bombings here, it shows how we must work together to defeat terrorism.'

Cracks show in the driver's window of the PM's car where bullets failed to penetrate the glass

At least two bullets from an unidentified gunman hit Mr Gilani's car, according to his press secretary. Security officials said the limousine was on its way to collect him.

TV footage showed the shattered glass of the driver's door and two bullet marks a couple of inches apart on the cracked window.

Officials said another car in the convoy was also hit by several bullets. There were no reports of injuries.

David Cameron visits an Islamabad mosque today with his shadow cohesion minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi

Mr Gilani said the attack had been prompted by his decision to make the security forces target Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists hiding in the north of the country.

'Things are pretty serious because this time we took them very seriously,' he added.

'We have challenged them  -  there is a reaction.'