"It was an improvised explosive device which exploded as the bus headed to the region's main town of Khar," local government official Mazhar Ali said, confirming that about 20 people were injured in the blast. Senior administration official Abdul Kabir said one woman died on the spot while "two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital."
The two men were members of a tribal militia formed to fight against Taliban insurgents in the region, he said, in the latest in a string of killings of elders who have spoken out against the Islamist extremists. Also in Bajaur, two Taliban militants were killed when a bomb they were preparing exploded in Savaei village, local official Farooq Khan said.