Quetta (Pakistan): A suicide car bomber killed a policeman and a bystander in an explosion near the police chief's headquarters in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Thursday, an officer said.
The attacker detonated his bomb-packed car in a parking lot opposite the Baluchistan police chief's building near other government offices in northern Quetta, said the police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The blast killed a policeman directing traffic in the street and a passer-by, said police. Three policemen and a civilian were also wounded.
Body parts and wreckage from the attacker's car were scattered throughout the car park, with debris being blasted some 300 feet (90 metres) away.
One eyewitness, Pervaiz Zaide described the blast.
"We were standing here, we saw the big blast and one of the jeeps was flying in the air and landed and shattered into pieces. There was smoke in the air everywhere," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which followed recent police arrests of Taliban-linked militants operating in and around Quetta, a city near the Afghan border.
It was unclear if the explosion was linked to Monday's Pakistani air raid on a religious school in the northwestern Bajur district, which killed 80 suspected militants and prompted calls by pro-Taliban tribesmen to launch suicide attacks against Pakistani forces.
Baluchistan is Pakistan's largest and most impoverished province, but is also rich in natural resources, including gas.
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