Pakistan security personnel gather at the site of an overnight suicide bombing in Quetta on May 13, 2013.

Story highlights

A suicide bomber rams a police convoy in Quetta with an explosive-laden vehicle

The loud explosion breaks windows of nearby buildings

After the explosion, militants fire rockets into the city

CNN  — 

Assailants terrorized residents of a southwestern Pakistani city Sunday with a deadly suicide bombing that targeted police followed by rocket attacks. The bloodshed came a day after national elections marred by violence.

At least five people died and 68 more were injured when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into the convoy of a ranking police official in the city of Quetta, police said.

“The blast was so loud it was heard all over the city,” police spokesman Syed Ahmed Mobeen said. The strength of explosion smashed the windows of nearby homes and offices.

The apparent target of the bombing, Balochistan provincial Police Chief Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera, survived the attack unharmed, Mobeen said.

Among the dead are policemen, paramilitary soldiers and at least one civilian. Twelve of the wounded were policemen escorting Sukhera.

The suicide attack was followed by six rocket attacks in Quetta, Mobeen said. The assault sparked panic among residents. Police do not yet know who is behind the attacks, and no group immediately claimed responsibility.

Saturday’s voting across Pakistan saw bursts of deadly violence aimed at polling stations, but it failed to deter citizens eager to have their say in landmark national and provincial elections.

Voter turnout was nearly 60%, the chief election commissioner said early Sunday. Many were voting for the first time.

The national election marked the first transition between civilian governments in the nation’s 66-year history.