Six killed in Pakistan school bomb attack

Six people were killed and four others wounded when a bomb exploded inside an Islamic school in south-western Pakistan today, officials said.

The blast ripped through the madrassa in Qilla Saifullah, a town about 140km north of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, police official Mohammed Farooq said.

The bomb exploded in a room soon after an Afghan refugee, who stayed there for the night as a guest, had left, Mr Farooq said.

Four school students were killed at the scene while two others died later. Four other people were wounded, Mr Farooq said.

Baluchistan shares a long border with Afghanistan, where Taliban militants are battling government and Nato forces.

The province is also riven by a low-level insurgency in which ethnic Baluch rebels are seeking greater autonomy and control over resources like rich gas reserves.

Manzoor Hussain, police chief in Qilla Saifullah, said it was unclear if the explosion was linked to either conflict.