Blast targeting police van in Pakistan's Dera Ismail Khan kills 5, injures over 20

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Reuters as saying. The blast took place in Tank Adda in the city near a police van, Geo TV reported on Friday. According to the report, those injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, while some of them remain critical.

Gunshots were also heard after the explosion, officials were quoted as saying. As per initial media reports, the explosive device was planted on a motorbike. It was not immediately clear if the incident was the result of a suicide attack or a bomb planted nearby, police official Mohammad Adnan was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The KP bomb disposal unit as well as law enforcement officials immediately arrived on site after the explosion. The city of Dera Ismail Khan, where the blast took place, lies on the edge of lawless tribal districts bordering Afghanistan that have long been home to Islamist militants both domestic and foreign. Another Pakistani media outlet Dawn reported that there has been an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

Last month, two blasts rocked KP and Balochistan provinces. Scores of people were killed on the day of Eid Miladun Nabi — the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Geo TV said. The blast in KP's Hangu, which had taken place during the Friday sermon, had killed five and injured 12 people.

A Hangu district police officer was quoted as saying two suicide bombers were involved in the attack — one targeted the gate of the police station, and the other blew himself up inside the mosque. Before this, a suicide blast in Balochistan's Mastung district killed at least 35 people, including a police officer. Over 45 people were