By Agencies

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A suicide car bomber has killed five security troops at a road checkpoint in Pakistan's volatile southwest, officials have said.

Murtaza Baig, a government spokesman, said the attacker detonated his explosives early on Saturday after he was stopped at the checkpoint in a Quetta suburb.

The killed troops were members of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Baluchistan province and its capital, Quetta, have been the scene of a rebellion by Baluch nationalists who are demanding greater rights and bigger share of the income generated from gas and minerals extracted from the province.

Various Baluch groups are blamed for attacks on the province's security forces and are suspected of targeting other ethnic groups in the region.

Armed Taliban and Lashker-e-Jhangvi fighters are also active in the province.