Police officers in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. — Photo by AP

QUETTA: A man blew himself up in a failed suicide bombing on Saturday in Pakistan's southwest, where a recent surge in sectarian unrest has killed dozens of Shia Muslims.

The bomber's explosives went off as he was heading to a target in the Shia dominated town of Hazara, on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas-rich Balochistan, police said.

The insurgency-hit province borders Iran and Afghanistan.

“It was a failed suicide attack, the bomber was heading to a Shia population area in Hazara town,” Hamid Shakeel, a senior police officer, told AFP.

“A Shia mosque is also located in the area. Apparently Shias were the target but the explosive went off before time.”