KOHAT, June 16: Eight people, five of them personnel of elite police force, were killed and six others injured when a bomb went off near a police van in Dhoda area on Saturday.

A police official said that about 10kg of explosives was used in the bomb.

The terrorists detonated the bomb with remote control when the van passed through the area.

The area where the incident took place is in control of the people who have come from Orakzai Agency, Kurram Agency, Hangu and Darra Adamkhel and settled there permanently.

Three passers-by also died in the blast while all the injured were policemen.

The slain policemen were identified as Constables Tasawwur Hussain, Naqeebullah, Hafiz Qaiser and Faheem.

The names of the three dead civilians could not be confirmed till late in the night. The station house officer of the Riaz Khan Shaheed police, Omer Hayat, Gul Janan and Sepoys Sabir, Adil Badshah, Muhammad Zubair and Faheem were injured and taken to the divisional headquarters hospital.

The administration declared a state of emergency in hospitals.