QUETTA: A remote-controlled bomb targeting a police van exploded in southwest Pakistan on Monday, killing two boys and wounding 17 others including a senior police official, police said.

The bomb was planted on a motorbike parked in a commercial area of Dera Murad Jamali, a town 400 kilometres southwest of Quetta, local police chief Abdul Haye Baloch told AFP.

It was a small bomb containing three kilograms of explosives, he said.

“The target was apparently a police van,” he added.

Two boys aged about 12 were killed, he said. Another 15 people were wounded, including a police guard and a senior police official he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.