Suicide attack kills 4 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A suicide car bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a police station in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province Thursday, killing four security officials, authorities said.

The attack took place shortly after midnight at the police station in Mingora, a town in Swat Valley, once Pakistan's biggest tourist draw, where security has continued to deteriorate despite a peace pact. It is located near the Afghanistan border about 186 miles (300 km) from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Thirteen people were wounded, said district Police Officer Idrees Bangsh, adding that suspected militants fired rockets at the police station before the car bombing.

The victims comprised of an assistant police sub-inspector and three members of the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force which uses recruits from Pakistan's tribal areas and is overseen by Pakistani army officers.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The country's only ski resort was shut down last year after militants overran the area. The area was also a draw for trout-fishing enthusiasts and visitors to the ancient Buddhist ruins in the area.

In recent months, however, militants bent on imposing fundamentalist Islamic law, or Sharia, have unleashed a wave of violence across the North West Frontier Province that has claimed hundreds of lives, many of them security personnel.

The militants want to require veils for women, beards for men and ban music and television.

The central government has long exerted little control in the area, but it launched an intense military offensive in late July to flush out militants.

As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban has carried out a series of deadly bombings -- and said the attacks will continue until the troops pull out.

CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report

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