At least 11 people were killed in a bomb blast in Pakistan's northwest during a polling for by- elections Sunday, local TV channels reported.

The blast ripped through a polling station at a small town of Shalbandi in the Buner district in North West Frontier Province, according to the private Geo.

The polling for a National Assembly seat was going on when the device exploded.

The by-election is being held as the seat has fallen vacant due to the death of a member Abdul Matin Khan.

TV channels reported that the bomb was planted inside the polling station.

The blast took place one and half hour after the polling started.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2008)