Suicide car bomber wounds six in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar: A suicide bomber on Tuesday rammed his explosive-laden car into a checkpoint outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan, wounding six people, police said.

The attack took place at a police station outside the restive town of Bannu bordering the lawless tribal regions where Taliban and Al Qaeda linked militants are known to operate.

"Four policemen and two civilians were wounded after a suicide bomber blew up his car at the checkpoint," senior police official Nisar Ahmad Tanoli told AFP.

The blast damaged the outer wall of the police station and two houses near the checkpoint, he said.

Taliban militants immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We carried out the suicide attack on the police station... we will not spare them and target them again," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP on phone from an unknown location.

"We will continue to target police and security forces because they are killing our mujahedin (fighters)," he added.

Suicide and bomb attacks blamed on Islamist insurgents have killed more than 5,200 people across nuclear-armed Pakistan since July 2007.