A bomb planted in a vehicle went off near a petrol station in northwestern Pakistantoday, killing six people and wounding several others, police said.
There has been a lull in militant violence in Pakistan in recent weeks after security forces pushed back Taliban insurgents in the northwestern Swat Valley and stepped up attacks on Pakistani Taliban in the South Waziristan region.
"The blast killed six people on the spot and we have shifted the wounded to hospital," Jahanzeb Khan, a senior police officer in the town of Charssada, where the blast took place, told Reuters.
Another police officer, Riaz Khan, said the bomb was being carried in a car and it went off when its driver had stopped to get petrol.
The military went on the offensive against Pakistani Taliban in the Swat valley in the northwest in late April, which initially triggered more bomb attacks by militants.
After three months, the army has killed or driven out many militants from Swat in what has been widely seen as a successful operation.
Bomb attacks have also become more rare in recent weeks. although the reason for that is not clear.
The army push has allayed fears among Pakistan's allies, in particular the United States and other countries with troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, that nuclear-armed Pakistan was failing to get to grips with spreading Islamist violence.
Pakistan's efforts to suppress militants on its side of the border are vital for a US-led bid to stabilise Afghanistan, where Taliban have threatened to disrupt Thursday's presidential election.
Reuters