8 killed in bomb blast in northwestern Pakistan

updated 12:49 a.m. ET Aug. 28, 2008

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A bomb hit a van carrying prisoners in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least eight people, police said Thursday.

It was not immediately clear whether Thursday's attack on a bridge in the town of Bannu was carried out by suicide bombers, police official Jalil Khan said.

The dead included police officers and prisoners, but he could not provide a breakdown.

The violence comes a week after the threat of impeachment forced longtime U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf to resign as president. There have been a string of suicide bombings and gun attacks since then, especially in the volatile northwest.

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