7 killed as blast rips through Pak police van

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least seven people including six security officials were killed when a powerful roadside bomb ripped through a police van in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, police said. 

Three policemen, three paramilitary soldiers and one passerby were killed in the blast which 'totally destroyed' the van as it passed on a routine patrol.

"It was a remote-controlled device, planted on the road," local police chief Dar Ali Khattak said.   

"It was a powerful blast, the vehicle has been totally destroyed," he said, adding that a bomb disposal unit was examining the device.

Dera Ismail Khan, about 250 kms from Islamabad, borders the restive tribal region of North Waziristan where Pakistani forces are hunting suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels. 

Six of the victims were killed at the scene while the third member of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary died in the town's hospital, a doctor said.

"We have seven dead bodies," doctor Jahanzeb Khan said on telephone. He added that three others with "serious injuries" have been admitted.   

No group has so far claimed the responsibility and officials refused to immediately comment on a possible motive.