By DPA,
Islamabad : At least 13 people, including police officers, were killed Thursday in a suspected suicide attack on a van carrying prisoners in Pakistan’s restive North West Frontier Provinces, media reports said.
The attack took place on the outskirts of Bannu town, 200 km south of the provincial capital Peshawar.
According to the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) news channel, at least nine of the dead were policemen who were transporting the detainees.
A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the police vehicle when it was crossing a bridge, PTV said.
Authorities at a hospital in Bannu confirmed that eight bodies have been brought to the health facility so far.
Bannu borders Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal district, a sanctuary of pro-Taliban militants, including foreign fighters.
Violence in the north-west has resurged after the government forces launched a major offensive against militants in the area in the recent months.