At least five Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed and 30 more people were injured in a powerful bomb explosion in southern Pakistan on Sunday.

The explosion happened in Dera Ismail Khan city of the the country North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP). Police officials said a police van was target of the attack.

Dera Ismail Khan is located close to the Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan where the Pakistani Taliban are openly challenging writ of the government over the previous few years.

Mohsin Shah, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dera Ismail Khan, told journalists that there was a smaller blast. When a police party reached on the spot for investigations, a big explosion trook place that caused the casualties.

The police officer said the police party was target of the bomb attack. He said miscreants wanted to create more tension between the Shia and Sunni sects of Muslims ahead of their Moharram festival.

In Moharram, the Shia sect of Muslims mourn the martyrdom of the family members of Prophet Mohammad. However, the Sunni sect of Muslims oppose the mourning which often create religious tension in the already troubled Pakistan.

Dera Ismail Khan has already been declared as one of the most sesitive districts of NWFP from security point of view during the month of Moharram and banned the entry of several religious scholars in the city.

The blast in Dera Ismail Khan is not the first in the past two months. A similar attack was carried out on a funeral...