PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Separate roadside bomb attacks in Pakistan's volatile northwest Saturday killed three people, including a local police chief, a senior police official said.
The first attack happened in Bara, a town 10 miles east of Peshawar, when a roadside bomb exploded near a civilian vehicle, killing one person and wounding three others, the official Ata Ullah said.
About two hours later, another bomb struck a vehicle in Peshawar that was carrying local police chief Khaista Khan, killing him and his driver. Two policemen were wounded the attack, he said.
Ullah did not give any further details, saying only that people were investigating.
Peshawar is the capital of Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, where pro-Taliban militants often target security forces.
However, Pakistan's new coalition government has been offering peace to militants who renounce violence in an attempt to end a wave of bombings that killed hundred of people and shook Pakistan over the past year.
On Wednesday, authorities signed a peace deal with militants operating in Swat, a former tourist destination in the northwest province located about 105 miles from Peshawar.
Officials say under this deal the militants had agreed to respect the government's authority, stop suicide and bomb attacks in future and hand over any foreign militants in their areas.
In return, the government has promised to release an unspecified number of militants detained during recent military operation in Swat and make limited concessions on the demands of the hardline cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, for the imposition of Islamic law in the region.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox