Two car bombings in southwest Pakistan kill eight, wound 23, officials say

QUETTA, Pakistan — A pair of car bombings in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit southwest killed at least eight people and wounded about two dozen others on Thursday, authorities said.

The first attack occurred in Turbat, a district in Balochistan province, when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a security convoy, killing two security personnel and wounding 23 others, officials said.

Hours later, another car bomb exploded near the Afghan border in the southwestern city of Chaman, killing six people, government administrator Imtiaz Ali said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban and on Baloch separatists, who frequently target security forces and civilians in the province.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence in recent years, with most attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which is known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The group is separate from, but closely allied with, the Afghan Taliban. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and other separatist groups also often stage attacks in Balochistan. The province has long been the scene of an insurgency, with separatists demanding independence from the central government.

The latest attack comes two weeks after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a stadium as supporters of a nationalist party were leaving a rally near Quetta, killing 13 people.

Officials said the security landscape in the region remains fragile, with authorities stepping up patrols and intelligence-gathering as investigations continue and officials cautioned that further violence could occur amid ongoing tensions in the area.