Two suicide bombers targeting a senior security official struck near government offices in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta today, killing 20 people, a police official said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Pakistan's Taliban militants, who are close to al-Qaeda, often carry out such attacks under a campaign designed to topple the US-backed government.
Autonomy-seeking militants demanding a greater share of the profits from oil and other resources in the province of Baluchistan, of which Quetta is the capital, have also waged a low-level insurgency for decades.
One of the suicide bombers blew himself up in a vehicle packed with explosives near the car of the deputy head of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Baluchistan, Farrukh Shehzad.
Mr Shehzad was wounded and his wife was killed, police said. The other suicide bomber struck inside his house. The dead included seven of his guards. The explosions brought down the walls of his house and nearby offices.
A man drenched in blood sat dazed beside the road next to the dead body of his baby.
Although al-Qaeda is believed to be reeling from the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US special forces in May, the Pakistani Taliban are still highly effective.
They carried out a series of high-profile attacks to avenge bin Laden's death. Pakistan's military has staged several major offensives against the Taliban which have been described as a success. But they have failed to contain the militants.
The militants, who are not linked to the Taliban, attack infrastructure, including natural gas facilities, and the security forces.
Reuters