A BOMB blast apparently targeting health workers killed nine people, including five children, in Pakistan’s restive south-west today, with suspicion falling on militants who often seek to disrupt polio vaccination efforts.

The explosive device was attached to a motorcycle and exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in Mastung, a district of Balochistan province, but a motorised rickshaw carrying schoolchildren was also hit by the blast.

Local police chief Fateh Mohammad confirmed that the explosion had killed five children, a police officer and two bystanders.