Abuja, Dec 5 (IANS): At least six people were killed and eight others injured when suspected bandits detonated improvised explosive devices planted under a bridge in the northwestern state of Zamfara, the police said.

Mohammed Dalijan, the police chief in Zamfara, told Xinhua by telephone on Wednesday that two vehicles driving on the explosives were destroyed under the Mai Lamba bridge, along the Dansadu-Gusau road in the Maru local government area.

The explosive attack on Wednesday was the second of the kind in that location this week, Dalijan noted, after an earlier attack on Sunday killed a passerby, destroyed a vehicle, and damaged a bridge where the explosive was planted.

The victims of Wednesday's incident were locals, including women travelling from Gusau, the state capital, to Dansadu, said the police chief.

He said the police had deployed a tactical squad to ascertain the type of explosives through laboratory tests.