QUETTA, Pakistan: A powerful bomb went off near the office of the provincial police chief in southwest Pakistan on Friday, killing five people and wounding more than 10 others, police said.
The attack took place Friday morning near the office of the Inspector-General of Police in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, police spokesman Shahzada Farhat said.
He said the death toll was expected to rise as some of the wounded were listed in critical condition.
Farhat said officers were still trying to determine whether it was a car bomb. He said that the explosion was powerful enough that it was heard across the city.
TV footage showed several badly damaged cars and a road littered with broken glass.
Anwarul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the provincial government, condemned the attack and said that authorities had transported the dead and wounded to hospitals.
No one has claimed responsibility, but Pakistani Taliban and Islamic militants have previously targeted the province, which for over a decade has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share of regional resources.
