Car bomb kills 10 in Pakistan

A powerful car bomb outside the headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary security forces killed at least 10 people on Tuesday and wounded 30 others, AP reported, citing local authorities.

Before detonating their vehicle, as many as six militants inside the car stepped outside and engaged troops in an intense shootout, according to the police. All six attackers were reported to have been killed.

Residents said the blast in the southwestern city of Quetta could be heard from miles away. Ambulances rushed to the site in front of the Frontier Constabulary and rescuers transported the wounded to nearby hospitals.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, though suspicion is likely to fall on separatists who often target civilians and security forces in insurgency-plagued Balochistan, where Quetta is the provincial capital.

Provincial health minister Bakhat Kakar said the death toll could rise further. He told reporters that the attackers had targeted the security forces’ headquarters, but most of those killed and injured were civilians.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said six attackers were involved in the assault and all of them were killed by the security forces.

The attack comes weeks after a suicide bombing outside a stadium near Quetta as supporters of a nationalist party were leaving a rally, killing at least 13 people and wounding 30 others.