Pakistani police say a powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle has killed four policemen guarding a mosque in the southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

City police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema says 10 people were also wounded in Monday's bombing.

The Pakistani Taliban quickly released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.

The bombing came two days after another insurgent group, the Baluch Liberation Army, stormed a luxury hotel in the coastal town of Gwadar, triggering a shootout that left all three assailants, a special forces soldier and four hotel employees dead.

Baluchistan province has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region's natural resources such as gas and oil.