TIMERGARA, April 25 Eleven children — six boys and five girls of a family — were killed and three others suffered injuries when a home-made bomb exploded in a village in Lower Dir on Saturday.

The children were playing with the bomb as they mistook it for a toy, villagers told Dawn. They said students of a government girls' primary school in Luqman Banda village had picked up the bomb in their school and carried it home.

Sources said the students started playing with it outside the house of a neighbour. It suddenly exploded, killing 10 children on the spot and injuring four others who had gathered.

The injured were taken to the DHQ hospital in Timergara, where one of them died of his injuries. Two others were referred to Peshawar, hospital sources said.

The victims, residents said, belonged to the family of Safdar. The local police confirmed the incident, but put the death toll at seven. There were two versions about the incident.

Some of the villagers said the bomb was planted near the wall of a girls' school in the village, but the children picked it up as soon as they saw it. Others were of the view that a street vendor while selling baby toys handed over the device to the children.

Villagers held some street vendors hostage in the area and locked them up at a hujra. However, no one has so far accepted responsibility for the deadly incident.

AGENCIES ADD At least 12 children, seven boys and five girls of five to 13 years, were killed in the bomb explosion, local police official Saeed Zaman said.

After visiting the site of the blast, Mr Zaman said the bomb was of oval shape and it exploded while children were playing with it in the compound of their house, not knowing that it was an explosive device.

He said it was unclear whether it was a deliberate act of terrorism or an accident, as the region is littered with unexploded ordnance abandoned by mujahideen fighters during their 1980s war against Soviet troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Four other people, including a woman were wounded in the blast, he said, adding that an investigation had been launched to ascertain what kind of bomb it was and how the children got hold of it.

Another local police official Sultan Mehmood also confirmed the incident and the death toll.

Lower Dir is part of the Malakand area, where President Asif Ali Zardari has authorised an agreement allowing the enforcement of Sharia in exchange for the end to a two-year-long Taliban uprising concentrated in Swat.

Saturday's explosion coincided with the withdrawal of scores of Taliban militants from Buner district.

PRESIDENT, PM GRIEVED President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have expressed their deep grief and sorrow over the loss of innocent lives in the bomb explosion.

In a message, the president conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the parents of the children and prayed to Allah to rest the departed souls in eternal peace.

The president directed authorities concerned to launch a thorough investigation into the tragic incident.

In his message, Prime Minister Gilani said the people playing with children's lives would not escape the law of the land.

The prime minister directed authorities concerned to probe into the matter and submit a report as soon as possible.