At least six Pakistani security service forces have been wounded by an explosion in the southwestern city of Quetta.

A group of Frontier Corps security forces were patrolling the Western Bypass area of Quetta on January 2 when their vehicle drove over a roadside bomb, said a spokesman for the security force.

The injured were taken to local hospitals. One person is reportedly in critical condition.

Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesman for Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail to RFE/RL.

Officials have begun an investigation.

Quetta is the capital of the resource-rich Balochistan Province, which has been plagued by sectarian violence and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.

With reporting by Dunya News