A suicide bomber blew himself up in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, Sunday, killing three paramilitary guards. 

The bomber targeted Frontier Constabulary guards in the Mian Ghundi neighborhood of the City - close to the Afghanistan border - where merchants traded vegetables.

The Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) confirmed that the suicide attack had targeted the Sohana Khan FC check-post at Mastung Road. 

Azhar Akram, a deputy inspector general of police, told AFP that 20 people were injured in the blast, including civilians.

A spokesman for the Police's Counter-Terrorism Department confirmed the toll.

#Breaking: 3 security personnel martyred, 20 injured in Quetta suicide bomb blast. #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/WYuBwNkpN6

— Atiq Ur Rehman Sial (@AtiqSial) September 5, 2021

Extremists have been frequently targeting communities or individuals they consider heretical in the country. 

Frontier guards have also been targeted by Baloch insurgents, who have been waging a simmering insurgency for greater autonomy.

Senior Police Officer Azhar Akram said that the attacker had walked toward the checkpoint manned by the paramilitary Frontier Corps on Quetta-Mastung Road, around 25 km south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province.