QUETTA: A suspected militant killed himself and two children on Sunday in southwest Pakistan when a bomb in the car he was driving exploded before he reached his intended target, police said.

A woman was also killed and 12 people wounded when the bomb detonated close to the home of the militant on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of the insurgency-hit province of Baluchistan.

The rented house was badly damaged.

“We have recovered the bodies of a woman and two children from the debris and also found a severed head, believed to be of a militant who was killed in the blast,” police officer Mukhtar Ahmed told AFP.

The injured included seven children, some of them related to the dead, he said.

“The target was not clear. We have launched an investigation to identify the militant. Police were also interrogating the owner of the house,” he said.

Abdul Razzaq, in charge of the bomb-disposal squad in Quetta, told AFP the car was carrying between 80 and 100 kilos (180-220 pounds) of explosives