TIMERGARA, Sept 16: Sixteen people, among them women and children, were killed and 13 others injured when a remote-controlled bomb ripped through a passenger van here on Sunday.

The bomb planted on a track in the Inzaro Kandao area of the Lower Dir district was detonated when the van stopped to pick up a passenger.

The powerful explosion that occurred at a place adjacent to the Salarzai area in the troubled Bajaur Agency destroyed the vehicle and sent human limbs flying over a wide area.District Coordination Officer Mahmood Aslam told Dawn it was a remote-controlled blast that hit the van carrying citizens from Inzaro Kandao to Munda bazaar.

The DCO put the death toll at 15 with 12 people injured.

The bomb disposal squad said that up to 15 kilograms of explosives had been used in the blast, adding that bodies of some victims were found two furlongs from the road.

A local resident Noor Azim told Dawn he was walking towards the van to board it after it had stopped when the blast occurred. He said the van was full of passengers, most of them belonging to Inzaro Kandao.

“There was black smoke billowing from the van and smell of charred flesh. The injured were crying when I reached the site,” said Shahidullah, another local resident.

The police and personnel of the Frontier Corps and army cordoned off the area and started a search for the suspects. They blocked the road but opened it after some time when people from nearby areas started reaching there to attend the funeral prayers of victims.

Those killed were identified as driver Wali Khan, Muhammad Azam, Nasrullah, 10, Syed Muhammad, Attaullah, wife of Syed Muhammad, wife of Gul Raz Khan, daughter of Mahmood, Gul Zamin, Asad Jan, Bakht Khan, Abbas Khan, Ms Shamoza, Anwar Syed, wife of Mahboob Khan and Najeeb Khan.

The injured included Anwar Zeb, 6, Ali Sher, 14, Khankhela, 12, Maraz, son of Amir Haidar, Noor Azim, Gul Farosh, Jahanzeb, Abdul Aziz and Mahboob.

Five of the injured were admitted to the DHQ hospital Timergara, five to the Samar Bagh hospital and the rest were discharged after the first aid at Munda.

District Police Officer Lower Dir Muhammad Ijaz Abid and Commandant Dir Scouts Col Kamran Aslam supervised the rescue work.

The DPO said it was the first incident of its kind in the area. He said the incident was being investigated from different angles and involvement of personal enmity in it could not be ruled out.

Col Kamran Aslam asked people to make their own arrangements for night watch, adding that militants should not be allowed to disturb peace in the area.

The DPO said two teams had been set up to investigate the incident.

AFP adds: Police official Farman Khan, who also supervised the rescue work, said the vehicle was targeted because it was carrying people known to be pro-government.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Mr Khan said militants were responsible.In 2009, about 30,000 Pakistani troops went into battle against the Taliban fighters controlled by Maulana Fazlullah, who for two years had terrorised people with a campaign of beheadings, violence and attacks on girls’ schools in Swat and parts of Dir.

Dir borders the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, where a number of security officials believe Fazlullah and some of his fighters sought refuge.

After heavy fighting that displaced an estimated two million people, the army declared the Swat region back under control in July 2009, and said the rebels had all been killed, captured or had fled.

However, there have since been sporadic outbreaks of violence in Swat and Dir.

Suicide and bomb attacks blamed on the Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants have killed more than 5,000 people across the country since July 2007.