At least three police officers have been killed in a blast that apparently targeted a police vehicle near a mosque in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province, officials said.
Liaqat Shahwani, a spokesman for the provincial government, told RFE/RL that at least six people, including three more police officers, were wounded in the blast on May 13.
The banned Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the explosion that police say was caused by an improvised bomb rigged to a motorcycle.
The attack comes amid high security during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The police officers were deployed outside the Masjid al-Huda mosque to secure the area during the special Ramadan evening prayers.
Last week, at least 10 people were killed in a suicide bombing that targeted a police van guarding a major Sufi shrine in the eastern city of Lahore.
