Militants kill 9 in attack on police station in Pakistan Pakistani officials say militants armed with guns and grenades have attacked a regional police station in the southwestern Baluchistan province, triggering a shootout that killed eight police officers and a civilian and wounded 17 others

QUETTA, Pakistan -- Pakistani Taliban militants armed with guns and grenades attacked a regional police station in the southwestern Baluchistan province Tuesday, triggering a shootout that killed eight police officers and a civilian and wounded 17 others, officials said.

Mir Zia Lango, the provincial interior minister, said four militants were involved in the attack in the district of Loralai and two of them were killed by security forces. He said an operation was underway to track down the others.

"These terrorists might have caused more casualties if they had managed to enter the main police building," where dozens of youths were waiting for recruitment, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but gave no further details.

Baluchistan province has also been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baluch separatists.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, a bomb went off at a home in the northwestern city of Bannu, killing five members of the same family, according to local police official Mohammad Tahir. He said the explosion badly damaged the house and that officers were investigating the circumstances.