15 dead in Pakistani explosion

(iStock)
(iStock)

A suspected suicide blast outside a polio vaccination centre in Quetta, southwest Pakistan, has killed at least 15 people.

The toll includes 12 police officers, two civilians, and one paramilitary, while nine other officers and a civilian were wounded, AFP was told by a local police officer.

A doctor at Sanderman hospital in the city confirmed the toll to AFP.

It's understood the officers were there to accompany polio workers at the centre on the third day of the region's vaccination campaign.

Ahsan Mehboob, police chief of the Balochistan province, where Quetta is located, told Reuters evidence gathered from the scene says it was a suicide blast.

Balochistan's home minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, told media he couldn't say anything about the nature of the blast.

"We are living in a war zone," he said. Investigations are continuing.

Militants attacking immunisation teams have damaged attempts to eradicate polio in Pakistan, one of three countries where the disease remains endemic.

AFP reports nearly 80 people have been killed in the attacks since December 2012.

3 News