KOHAT, July 8: Five people, a pro-government tribal elder among them, were killed and 11 others injured in a bomb blast in Hangu on Monday.

Officials said that soon after the car of Malik Ghazi Marjan came out of a service station and headed towards a bazaar in Tora Warai area, the bomb, which was planted in a motorcycle parked by the road, went off, killing all in the car. Eleven passers-by were injured.

The bomb disposal squad said explosives weighing six kilograms had been detonated by remote control. The blast was so severe that the car was tossed into the air and landed several metres away.

Sources said Malik Marjan, who was a staunch critic of extremists and militants, had recently returned from the UAE.

The other four who perished in the explosion included Abdullah, Shah Mahmood, Sawab Khan and Afsar Khan, according to an FIR registered at a police station.

The injured were identified as Abdul Hameed, Gul Ghamay, Badshah Khan, Saeed Khan, Rahim Gul, Wajid Gul, Sayal Baz, Asghar, Kaleem Shah, Gul Zaman and Gulzar Khan.

The bodies and the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Hangu. The administration cordoned off the area and tightened security on roads coming from areas bordering Afghanistan and Orakzai Agency, which are strongholds of the Taliban.