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Suicide attack kills 5 and injures 36 in northwest Pakistan

By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The province was devastated by floods during the summer of 2010
  • Police: Five people were killed and 36 injured by a suicide attack in northwest Pakistan
  • The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has long been a hot-bed of Taliban activity.
  • Policeman are among those dead and injured by a suicide bomber in a car

(CNN) -- A suicide bomber killed five people and injured 36 in Pakistan's northwest on Thursday, police said.

Four civilians and a policeman died in the attack, Abdul Rasheed Khan, police chief of the Hangu district in restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said. Among the injured were eleven policemen.

The explosion occurred when a suicide bomber in a car detonated explosives at a barrier next to a police station in the village of Doaba, according to Khan. Eight houses near the police station were damaged by the blast, he said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa borders Afghanistan and was formerly known as the North West Frontier Province. It has long been a hot-bed of activity by the Pakistani Taliban. The province was the site of several attacks on NATO supply convoys during 2010.

Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in bombings in the province in the past six months.

While police stations are a frequent target for violence, mosques have also been attacked. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is also home to a population of Ahmadis, who consider themselves Muslims but are seen as heretics by Sunnis and Shiites.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was devastated last summer by monsoon rains, which triggered the worst flooding Pakistan had endured since its founding.

Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this story