A roadside bomb planted by the Taliban killed 15 people and wounded 12 others in northern Pakistan today after it blew up under a truck carrying villagers to a market, near the border of Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban said the attack, was launched in revenge after villagers formed a pro-government militia, and that such attacks would continue.

Authorities said the bomb was planted in a dirt road and apparently detonated by remote control.

Those killed were all civilians and none was a member of either the militia or the armed forces.

Since 2009, the army has increased its control in much of Pakistan's tribal areas but insurgent attacks remain common.