A bomb attack wounded 13 people on Wednesday, targeting an influential Pakistani tribal elder on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar, police said.

The blast badly damaged 10 other cars parked near a police checkpost and wounded tribal elder Malik Taj, police officer Rahim Shah said.

"It seems the target was Malik Taj," Tahir Ayub, another police officer, told AFP.

"The bomb was apparently planted in a car, which was totally destroyed," Shah told AFP from the scene.

"We have received 13 injured, they include Malik Taj," Doctor Syed Ali from the Hayatabad Medical Complex Hospital told AFP.

Another police officer Mian Syed Jan confirmed the casualty count.

Taj is an important businessman in Khyber, part of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, which straddles a key NATO supply route into neighbouring Afghanistan.

He owns a shopping plaza in the nearby Karkhano market and runs bus terminals in the area, residents said.