At least 6 killed in Pakistan suicide bombing

QUETTA, Pakistan (3rd UPDATE) – At least 6 people, including 5 policemen, were killed in the Pakistani city of Quetta when a suicide bomber rammed into their bus on Tuesday, injuring 16 people, police said.

The attack took place near the legislative assembly of southwestern Balochistan province of which Quetta is the capital.

“At least 5 policemen and a pedestrian were martyred and 16 others were wounded when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck the bus,” senior police official Abdul Razzaq Cheema told the Agence France-Presse.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, he added.

Police and troops have been battling Islamist militants and separatist groups in mineral-rich Balochistan for more than a decade.

Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is the largest of the country’s four provinces but its roughly 7 million people have long argued they do not get a fair share of its vast gas and mineral wealth.

The province is Pakistan’s most restive region, afflicted by Islamist militancy, sectarian violence, and the separatist insurgency. – Rappler.com