Five killed in Quetta suicide bombing: official

QUETTA: A suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at a check post overnight killing five people including three soldiers here, an official said Saturday.

Troops from the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) stopped a Toyota car for a security check in Quetta, capital of the insurgency hit Baluchistan province when it entered the city late Friday, FC spokesman Murtaza Baig said. "They were questioning the driver when he detonated himself, killing three FC soldiers and two officials of the military intelligence," Baig told AFP.

The bomber was also blown into pieces, the official said. He said the alleged terrorist may have planned to target some military installation or a public place during the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr starting this weekend.

"The soldiers sacrificed their lives to foil a major terror attack," he added. There was no claim of responsibility for the latest incident but the province which borders Iran and Afghanistan suffers from Taliban attacks. It is also a flashpoint for sectarian violence involving that has left thousands of people dead since the late 1980s.

Baluch rebels rose up in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the oil, gas and mineral resources in the region. Bomb blasts and attacks on police and security forces are frequent in insurgency-plagued Baluchistan, which is one of the most deprived areas of Pakistan.