Pakistani police said Sunday a bomb blast in a two-story hotel in the country's restive southwest killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 20 others.

Authorities said the explosion occurred in the town of Dera Allah Yar in Baluchistan province, located some 300 kilometers east of the provincial capital, Quetta.

The authorities warned the death toll could rise as several people were believed to have been trapped in the rubble of the hotel which was completely destroyed.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Elsewhere in the province, police said gunmen on motorcycles shot dead a local journalist near his house in the town of Khuzdar.

Baluchistan province has seen a recent surge in violence linked to a separatist insurgency, sectarian clashes and Taliban militants.

In other violence Sunday, suspected militants launched a rocket attack on a paramilitary base in the North Waziristan tribal area, killing three soldiers and wounding at least 23 others.

Authorities said the rockets hit a base in Miranshah, the restive region's main town, as the soldiers prepared for Independence Day ceremonies.

North Waziristan is considered the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan's tribal belt along the Afghan border. The militants often launch attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan.