By Saud Mehsud
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) -A suicide bombing tore through a security installation in north-western Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least nine civilians, police said.
Zia u Din, the head of the police force in the northern district of Bannu, said the explosion had also injured 18 people, adding that the figures did not include any security force casualties.
Police officials said the blast was likely caused by a vehicle laden with explosives.
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that militants rammed two explosive-filled vehicles into the walls of the facility but that the attack was foiled by the security forces. Six militants were killed in an exchange of fire after the blast, the official said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) Islamist militant group have risen in recent years against Pakistani police and military in areas near the Afghan border.
Ali Amin Gandapur, the Chief Minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the border province where the explosion took place, condemned the incident and said he had sought a report from senior police officials on the blast.
(Reporting by Reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; writing by Charlotte GreenfieldEditing by Gareth Jones)
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