Bannu suicide bomber kills five including two policemen, scores injured

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the bomb blast in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday which killed five people, including two policemen.

Gilani has called upon the concerned authorities to investigate into the incident and ensure proper medical facilities to the injured, Xinhua reported.

According to regional police chief Iftikhar Khan, a bomber blew himself near a police mobile van in Bannu, the main city in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.

Khan said that 12 people were also injured in the attack in the city’s commercial area, but TV channels reported that 22 people were hurt.

No terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Witnesses said that the militant approached the police van on foot and exploded his bomb.

Police have cordoned off the area after the attack, and said that a search operation has been launched to search the facilitators of the suicide bomber.

Bannu, a city near the North Waziristan tribal region, has seen deadly attacks on police and pro-government members of peace committees in the past.

In February, the Taliban had killed 16 people, including a district police officer, in twin attacks at the Police Lines in Bannu. (ANI)