At least five people were killed and eight injured in a bomb attack near a police van in the country’s restive northwest province on Wednesday.

At least five people were killed and eight injured in a bomb attack near a police van in the country's restive northwest province on Wednesday, officials said.

"Five people including four police personnel and a child were killed in a bomb blast in Sir Dheri, some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north of Peshawar," senior police official Shafi Ullah said.

"Apparently it was a planted device but we are still investigating the nature of the blast," he added.

He said the police van was on its usual patrol during the blast.

Earlier, a suicide attack on Monday in a market next to Pakistan's military headquarters killed 13 people including eight soldiers and three children.

The Pakistani Taliban, other militant affiliates and Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist networks all have strongholds in the country's northwest, particularly in the semi-autonomous areas on the Afghan border.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has waged a bloody campaign against the state in recent years, carrying out a number of bomb and gun attacks.