Pakistan Car Bomb Targets Security Personnel

A security official collects evidence near the remains of a damaged vehicle at the site of a bomb blast in Quetta, May 23, 2013.

Officials in southwest Pakistan say an explosion has ripped through a vehicle used by security forces, killing at least 12 people --11 security personnel and a civilian. Nearly two dozen people were wounded in the assault.

Police officials say a remote controlled car bomb targeted a vehicle carrying police special forces in Quetta Thursday. Authorities say the bomb contained about 100 kilograms of explosives.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which has been the center of a low-level insurgency for years.

Elsewhere Thursday, militants attacked a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, killing four soldiers.

Officials say at least 12 militants were killed in the attack near the Afghan border.

Blast Targets Pakistani Security Personnel