According to a police official 34 people, including 20 policemen, were wounded in the attack. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: A suicide bomber rammed his car into a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday killing at least 17 people, police said, in the third in a string of attacks by al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants over the last week.

An official said the death toll could rise as the police station had collapsed after the blast and workers were trying to rescue people trapped in the debris.

The attack took place in the town of Lakki Marwat.

“Nine policemen and eight civilians were killed,” police official Asghar Islam told Reuters by telephone.

Another police official said some children were also among dead as the bomber also struck a school van before hitting the rear wall of the police station.

He said 34 people, including 20 policemen, were wounded. — Reuters