Pakistani officials say a car bomb followed by a suicide attack targeting security forces killed at least 16 people Wednesday in the southwestern part of the country.

Police official Hamid Shakil said the two explosions in Quetta apparently were targeting the deputy head of Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps in Baluchistan province. While the car bomb occurred on the street, Shakil said the suicide bomber entered the official's home before detonating.

Initially, Shakil had told media that the senior official was not harmed. But police later said the official was wounded and his wife was among those killed. At least one child also died in the attack, and the house was badly damaged.

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, both Taliban militants and nationalist separatists are active in the area.

Pakistan's paramilitary force has been very active in the fight against the country's domestic Taliban group throughout the country's northwest, including the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Also earlier this week, the paramilitary force took part in an operation along with the U.S. and Pakistani spy agencies in Quetta to capture suspected senior al-Qaida operatives.