A bomb ripped through a passenger bus in a province of southwestern Pakistan wracked by growing tribal unrest, killing at least 13 people Sunday and wounding 20 others, police said. Some people were still trapped in the wreckage. In other violence, a woman, her three children and a soldier were killed by rockets purportedly fired by tribal militants elsewhere in Baluchistan province. A land mine explosion killed another civilian.The bomb blast occurred in Kolpur, a town about 18 miles southeast of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, as the bus traveled with about 50 passengers from Quetta to the eastern city of Lahore. Provincial police chief Chaudhry Mohammed Yaqoob said 13 people were confirmed dead and 20 others injured, but he said an uncertain number of bodies were trapped inside the twisted wreckage and could only be removed by steel cutters. Yaqoob said the bomb used "high-intensity" explosives and a timer. Witnesses said the back of the bus was destroyed, but the front was intact.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which will deepen concerns over Baluchistan, where violence between tribal militants and security forces has escalated recently in remote areas of the province. The tribesmen resent the presence of security forces and demand more revenues for natural resources, including natural gas, extracted from their territory.