Car bomb kills five in southwest Pakistan

A car bomb killed at least five people on Wednesday and wounded 10 more in a Shiite Muslim area of the restive southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, police said.

The bomb exploded in a parking lot after prayers marking the festival of Eid al-Fitr, senior police official Mohammad Hashim told AFP.

"At least five people were killed and 10 others wounded," Hashim said. "The bomb was planted in a car and an unidentified man parked it at the site and left."

Hashim said there had been no immediate claim of responsibility and police could not speculate who might be behind the bombing.

One woman was among the five dead brought to hospital, said hospital official Rasheed Jamali.

Witnesses said that several cars parked nearby caught fire from the blast, and a house was damaged. The area is populated by members of the minority Shiite Muslim group.

Live television footage showed swirls of thick black smoke as people ran into the street, some pushing their cars to safety, while ambulances carried away the wounded.

Pakistan's Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital, has seen a recent surge in violence linked to a separatist insurgency, sectarian clashes and Taliban militants.

Hundreds of people have died in violence in the province since the insurgency flared in late 2004. Despite having some of the lowest living standards in Pakistan, the region has the richest supply of natural resources.

Most of Pakistan's 177 million-strong population are Sunni Muslims, but the country has a significant Shiite minority. Thousands of people have died in sectarian attacks in Pakistan since the late 1980s.

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