QUETTA, Pakistan - Officials say a bomb attack has targeted a polio vaccination centre in southwestern Pakistan, killing 14 people.

Syed Imtiaz Shah, the local police chief, says the bombing of the centre in Quetta on Wednesday killed 12 police, a soldier and a civilian. Another 23 people were wounded.

Police official Shahzada Farhat said the attack appeared to be a suicide bombing, but investigations are ongoing.

Shah says the bomb exploded outside the polio centre shortly before vaccination teams were due to be dispatched to local neighbourhoods as part of a three-day immunization campaign. Polio workers in Pakistan have been the victims of several terrorist attacks in recent years.