15 die in blast at Pakistan polio center

QUETTA, Pakistan — A suicide attack Wednesday on a polio vaccination center in southwestern Pakistan killed 15 people, mainly policemen gathered to escort health workers, officials said.

The bombing on the outskirts of the city of Quetta killed 13 policemen, a soldier and a civilian, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesman. He said 23 people were wounded.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the police officers, said provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti. “We’re in a war zone,” he added.

The bombing happened outside the polio center shortly before vaccination teams were to be dispatched to neighborhoods as part of a three-day immunization campaign, said Syed Imtiaz Shah, the police chief.

Hours after the attack, Ahmad Marwat, a spokesman for Jundullah, or Army of God, a little-known militant group, claimed responsibility for the assault, without explaining why the center was targeted. He warned of more attacks on polio teams in the future.