A powerful car bomb blast in Pakistan’s city of Quetta has killed at least nine and injured almost 20 people.

Local police said explosives in a car parked close to the office of the chief of provincial police were detonated by remote control Friday morning.

Four members of the armed forces were also injured in the attack, according to intelligence sources.

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province that has faced a separatist insurgency for many years. During the past few years, members of the local Shiite population have also been under attack.

The province is also home to Gwadar, the deep sea port that is at the center of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a network of infrastructure and energy projects that are part of the larger One Belt One Road initiative by China.

Security in the province is considered essential to the success of the projects. Pakistan has raised a force of 15,000 military personnel to protect the corridor and projects related to it.
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