12 killed as bomb targets police vehicle in Pak

A higher police officer was in the middle of 12 people killed when a bomb went near a police vehicle in northwestern Pakistan difficult today.

The bomb, supposed to be hidden in a rickshaw, exploded when the police van passed through an area on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khantown in the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province, TV news channel quoted police sources and witnesses said.

Over 10 others were also wounded in the explosion. Deputy Head of the police was Mr Iqbal Khan, his guardian and chauffeur, two children and a woman were killed in the attack, which required a total of 12 lives. Khan went fromhis home to work when the explosion happened. Several police officers and passers-by wereamong the wounded.

Witnesses said the police car and rickshaw was destroyed by the bang which took place at Kachi Paind Khan district of Dera Ismail Khan. Nogroup claimed blame for the attack, but authorities usually blame such attacks on pro-Taliban. Militants often target security forces and police in their bloody campaign against the management in Pakistan's northwest.