Several people were killed in a bombing Friday, in northwest Pakistan's restive Swat Valley.

A former provincial minister Asfandyar Amerzeb was among those killed when a remote control bomb exploded as his car passed.

It is not clear if it this is the same incident that claimed lives of supporters of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's party, as reported earlier.

Pakistani troops have been battling militants in Swat since July, when a radical cleric called for a holy war against the government.

Soldiers recently ejected militants from territory they had seized in the area.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.