PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Seven people, including five policemen, were killed Saturday when a suspected car bomb hit a police van on the outskirts of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police said.
Pakistan has been hit by a wave of bombings in recent years, most carried out by Islamist militants linked to the Taliban or al Qaeda who are opposed to the government's support for the United States.
"A white car was parked by the road and as the police van passed, it blew up," said a police officer, who gave his name as Granullah.
Another officer said the blast could have been a suicide bomb attack.
Most of the bomb attacks in Pakistan over the past couple of years have been aimed at security forces in the northwest, although militants have also attacked politicians and targets with Western connections.
Last Tuesday, gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in the northeastern city of Lahore, killing seven Pakistanis and wounding six Sri Lankan players and two team officials.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is also struggling with an economy only staying afloat with the help of an International Monetary Fund loan, while its one-year-old civilian government is embroiled in a confrontation with its main rival.
The problems have raised fears about prospects for a country that some analysts fear could become a failed state.
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Paul Tait)
