Blast at Bosnia police station kills one

A powerful blast ripped through a police station in central Bosnia on Sunday, killing a policeman and wounding six other officers, a police official said.

Condemning the blast as a "terrorist act" as he visited the heavily damaged Bugojno police station, Security Minister Sadik Ahmetovic announced three people had already been arrested and fourth suspect was being sought in connection with the explosion.

An AFP photographer at the scene said the blast had caused considerable damage to nearby buildings as well as the police station, and a dozen vehicles parked in the vicinity had been totally demolished.

Around 20 policemen had been in the station in time of the blast, around 5 am (0300 GMT).

"One policeman died of injuries, while six others were wounded, one of them seriously," a police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Bosnian national TV BHT said one of the arrested was 26-year old Haris Causevic, who had confessed to planting the explosive device.

The prosecutor's office could not immediately confirm the report, however.

According to BHT, Causevic is a member of the radical Islamic Wahabbi movement that is active in Bosnia, and is already known to the police for previous crimes.

Ahmetovic called on Bosnian institutions to "energetically respond to confront this evil which threatens peoples' lives."

Haris Silajdzic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's joint presidency, condemned the blast as a "direct attack on the security, constitutional order and international position" of Bosnia.

During the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, hundreds of Islamic fighters, among them many Wahhabis, joined Bosnian Muslim troops.

A number of Bosnian Muslims -- generally a moderate community -- have accepted Wahhabi doctrine and their way of life.