Monday, Jan. 18, 2016 | 7:03 a.m.
QUETTA, Pakistan — A bomb blast targeted Pakistani paramilitary troops on Monday, killing five soldiers and wounding three in the southwestern city of Quetta, officials said.
The bombing occurred on the city's outskirts, said a local police official, Bangul Khan, adding that early indications were that the blast came from a bomb planted near the patrol and detonated by remote control.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Quetta is the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, where a low-level insurgency has long been waged by Baloch separatist groups demanding a greater share of the region's natural resources or outright independence.
Al-Qaida, the Taliban and other Sunni militant groups are also active in the region.
Last week, a suicide bombing struck a polio vaccination center in the city and killed 15 people, mainly policemen gathered to escort health workers. It was the latest attack on the vaccination campaign and health workers who have been repeatedly targeted in recent years by Islamic militants.
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