At least four people, including two policeman, were killed on Friday in a bomb explosion near a police station in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, officials said.
The bomb, which was planted in a car parked next to the police station, went off at 6:10 am (01:00 GMT) in Mardan city, the District Police Officer Tahir Khan said, reported the dpa.
Fourteen policemen and 18 civilians were injured in the explosion that destroyed the police station building. Ten shops in the nearby market were demolished or damaged.
Eight of the injured were said to be in critical condition, health officials at a local hospital said.
It was the first major bomb blast since the formation of the new government, which is planning to sign peace accords with the Islamic militants who have killed more than 1,000 people in their suicide bombings campaign over the last 14 months.
The attack defied the top pro-Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who had ordered the militants to halt attacks on Pakistani security forces to clinch a peace deal with the government.
Mehsud is the head of the country's umbrella militant organization Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which represents more than 20 radical groups.
The militant commander was blamed for ordering the December 27 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but he denied the allegations.