PESHAWAR -  A roadside bomb killed a political tehsildar and five Levies personnel in Tangi Gari Kal area of Bajaur Agency on Sunday.

Several people were also injured in the blast. The incident took place at about 12:30 pm.

According to a local source, political tehsildar Fawad Ali along with Levies personnel was traveling with the police to attend a meeting in the Bajur tribal region when, in Upper Mamond area, their vehicle was struck by the device.

"A government official and five security personnel were among the killed," said a political administration official of the agency, adding that the target of the militants was the security forces.

Anwarul Haq, another tribal official, said the device was detonated remotely, and that a search for the perpetrators was underway.

Soon after the incident, Khasadar and Levies men rushed to the site and took part in rescue activities.

The injured were shifted to the Agency Headquarters Hospital Bajaur Agency where they were provided emergency medical treatment.

The killed were identified as Fawad Ali, Motabar, Baradar, Jan Mohammad, Yousaf and Rasheed.

Security forces cordoned off the area and started a search operation in the surrounding areas to apprehend the culprits.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson, Mohammad Khorasani, claimed responsibility for the attack. Khorasani said militants had planted an improvised explosive device “to target security personnel” in the Bajaur Agency.

In a statement sent to media via email, Muhammad Khurasani asserted the blast killed seven people, including Ali.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi strongly condemned loss of precious lives in Bajaur blast on Sunday that resulted in martyrdom of political tehsildar and others, said an official statement.

The prime minister prayed for the departed souls and expressed deep grief and condolences for the bereaved families.

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has also strongly condemned the blast in Bajaur and expressed his deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the incident.

In a statement on Sunday, he reaffirmed the commitment of the government in defeating the menace of terrorism in the country.

He said the enemies of the country wanted to sabotage economic development in Pakistan.

Bajaur is one of the tribal regions near the Afghan border. Security in the region has improved in recent years after the Pakistan military mounted offensives there against the Pakistani Taliban, which is considered the country's biggest security threat.

But militants continue to stage attacks in FATA, which remains off-bounds for foreigners and is considered one of the most volatile parts of the nuclear-armed nation of 208 million people.

The outlawed extremist group and its breakaway factions plot attacks in the border region and elsewhere in Pakistan, saying their violent campaign is aimed at eliminating what they consider to be the current un-Islamic democratic system in the country.

The militant violence has killed tens of thousands of Pakistanis over the years.

Bajaur borders the volatile eastern Afghan province of Kunar where fugitive Pakistani militants have taken refuge and extremists loyal to Afghanistan’s branch of Islamic State are also well entrenched.

Pakistani officials allege militants have taken shelter on the other side of the border after fleeing security operations and plot terrorist attacks against Pakistan from their Afghan sanctuaries.

Islamabad accuses Kabul's intelligence agency of backing the terrorist activity. But Afghan authorities reject the charges and in turn blame Pakistan for supporting militant violence on their soil.