LANDI KOTAL, Feb 6: Seven people, three of them children, were injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a trailer on the main Peshawar-Torkham highway on Friday.

Officials said the bomber struck near Teddi Bazaar in Jamrud at about 8:15am when the Khasadar personnel signalled his speeding jeep to stop.

The driver rammed his jeep into an empty trailer returning from Afghanistan.

The resulting blast destroyed the jeep while the trailer overturned and fell off the road. The blast also created a crater in the road. A Khasadar man, three children and three passers-by were injured.

The injured were taken to the Jamrud civil hospital. Parts of the bomber’s body were collected by security personnel for DNA tests.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened more attacks on the Nato supply route unless the government halted military operations in the agency.

Assistant Political Agent Fida Bangash said that army’s engineering corps personnel who were repairing the damaged Ali Masjid bridge were the possible target.

He said the suicide attack caused traffic disruption for some time.

Army personnel succeeded in opening the bridge for one-way heavy traffic.

The new iron bridge is about 28 metres long and four metres wide.

Meanwhile, the Mehsud Scouts arrested a militant and impounded a vehicle after an exchange of fire with militants fleeing from Chapari area of Orakzai Agency.