QUETTA: A remote-controlled bomb targeting a police van killed three passers-by and wounded six other people in Pakistan's troubled southwest on Sunday, police said.

The explosive device was planted underneath a donkey cart on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of the oil-and-gas-rich Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

“The bomb targeting a police van exploded seconds after it passed by the cart, killing three passers-by and wounding six others including a policeman,”local police official Sikandar Tareen told AFP.

Another local police official, Saleem Shawani, confirmed the incident and casualties. There was no claim of responsibility, but Balochistan suffers from militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims and a separatist insurgency.

Gunmen riding a motorcycle shot dead the chief warden of the district prison on May 19.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility and said “the slain warden was a cruel person and used to subject our imprisoned leaders and workers to torture”.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baloch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pakistani government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the resources in the region.