An explosion in the northwest killed at least four local government officials and police officers, a police official said.

“One senior government official, along with another government official and two police officers, were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded,” said Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official stationed in Bajaur, a city near the border with Afghanistan.

The officials were travelling in a car when “the attack happened in a market in Bajaur city”, Rafiq added.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

It came four days after 16 soldiers were killed in the province in an attack claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, a group which is very active in the area.

Around 300 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. — AFP