Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A powerful bomb planted in a car killed nine people and injured 21 others in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, a senior police official said. The bomb rocked a neighborhood in the outskirts of Peshawar and destroyed several shops, said Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan. A police station was nearby but it's not clear if security forces were the target of the blast, Khan said. Peshawar is the gateway to the country's tribal region where security forces have been battling an insurgency led by the Pakistani Taliban. Local reports on Pakistani TV showed the charred remains of a car, several shops that were gutted by the explosion and rescue crews carrying victims to safety.
The blast goes off in the outskirts of Peshawar . Police: It is unclear if security forces were the target of the blast .