A bomb blast near a police convoy killed at least five people and injured 24 others in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday in the latest attack on security personnel in the country.

The bomb exploded close to the police patrol in Dera Ismail Khan city.

District Police Officer Abdur Rauf Qaisrani said five people were killed and 24 others, including two policemen, suffered injuries.

The police cannot be deterred through such cowardice act and we will continue to fight against terrorism, Qaisrani said.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government condemned the blast and termed it an act of cowardice and jingoism.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan after the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

On October 31, a policeman was killed after unknown militants opened fire on a police camp in Dera Ismail Khan. The same day, two soldiers were killed in an IED blast in the South Waziristan district.

In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.