PESHAWAR: Five people were killed in a blast in northwestern area on Tuesday, including an influential anti-Taliban tribal leader, police said, in the fist major bombing in over a decade in an area that was once a battleground between security forces and militants.

The attack comes as fears rise about the return of Pakistani Taliban, also known as the TTP, to the Swat area, and peace talks between security forces and militants, that started last year, have failed.

Peace committee leader Idrees Khan’s vehicle drove over an improvised explosive device, killing him and two bodyguards, Swat police officer Zahid Marwat told Reuters.