In the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, a powerful bomb has exploded in the car park of a luxury hotel, at least four people died and 12 people wounded.

It is not clear who was behind the bombing of the five-star Serena Hotel.

Police said that rescuers took the victims to a nearby hospital. Footage from Pakistani news channels showed the car was burning and the fire was everywhere.

Scenario of long-running insurgency by secessionist groups such as the Baluchistan Liberation Front and the Baluchistan Liberation Army in the south-western province of Baluchistan.

They have been attacking for decades demanding independence. The Pakistani Taliban is also have a presence there.

Correspondents says the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Serena, is suspected of being the target of an attack on the hotel’s car park.

Home Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Pakistani broadcaster ARY News TV that “a car loaded with explosives exploded at the hotel” when news agency AFP quoted him as saying it was “an act of terrorism”.

He added that Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong was at a ceremony at the time and therefore was not at the hotel.

All other guests from the hotel were also safe, local media quoted officials as saying.

A Taliban spokesman confirmed to Reuters that “this is a suicide attack, so our suicide bomber used his explosive-laden car at the hotel.”

Provincial government spokesman Liaquat Shahwani described the bombing as an act of terrorism without elaborating. He added that “Pakistan’s enemies are behind today’s attack”.

Security forces rushed to the hotel and no one was allowed near the blast site.

A senior police official Azhar Akram said, the condition of some of the injured is critical.

Wasim Beg, a spokesman for the provincial health department, said four people had been killed and 12 injured in the bombing.

“About a dozen injured people were being brought there and they declared a state of emergency at the hospital to treat the victims” said Arbab Kamran Kasi, a doctor at Quetta’s main hospital.