At least 18 people were killed and 40 others were injured on Friday as a bomb tore through a bus carrying government workers in restive northwest Pakistan.

At least 18 people were killed and 40 others were injured on Friday as a bomb tore through a bus carrying government workers in restive northwest Pakistan.

The blast came on the edge of provincial capital Peshawar, which has long been a flashpoint for a local Taliban militants targeting government officials, security forces and ordinary civilians.

Nasir Durrani, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told reporters the remote-controlled bomb was planted at the back of the vehicle.

The bus, which was hired by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government to take staff home from work, was reduced to a tangled mess of twisted metal by the force of the blast.

Another police officer, Najeebur Rehman, told AFP 18 people had been killed. Shah Farman, provincial minister of information, confirmed the toll and said there were 44 wounded.

An eyewitness speaking on GEO news channel said the blast was so powerful it threw victims' bodies clear of the vehicle and onto the roadside.

The target was government employees, Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, the commissioner of Peshawar, told AFP. The bus was heading to the town of Charsadda when the bomb went off.