A Pakistani police official says a roadside bomb killed a local police chief and his driver in the northwest, near the Afghan border.

Nosher Khan says Thursday's blast in the Dir district also wounded some passers-by. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Previous attacks in the area have been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan has carried out a number of large military operations in the rugged northwest in recent years aimed at rooting out the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaida and other militant groups. Islamic militants still carry out near-daily attacks, mainly targeting security forces and minority Shiites.