One person was killed and 12 others were injured in a bomb attack that targeted a trash bin in Karachi, Pakistan late Thursday, police said.

The explosion tore through the Saddar neighborhood of Pakistan's most populous city at around 11 p.m. (6 p.m. GMT).

"Initial investigation suggested that the explosive material was planted in a motorcycle that was parked near a trash bin," said local police station house officer Sajjad Khan.

The target of the attack was not immediately announced.

However, Khan said a coast guard vehicle was among "several" damaged in the blast while the one person slain was a "passerby."

Last month a female suicide bomber killed four people, including three Chinese nationals, in an attack on a minibus carrying staff from a Beijing cultural program at Karachi University.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) – a group fighting for independence in Pakistan's largest and most impoverished province – claimed responsibility for the April 26 strike.

China has made massive energy and infrastructure investments in Balochistan under a $54 billion scheme known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

However, the program has put Chinese citizens in the crosshairs of Baloch separatists, who say local residents do not see their fair share of riches from natural resources in the region.

In April 2021 a suicide bomb attack at a luxury hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, killed four and wounded dozens.

The ambassador was unhurt.

And this January Baloch separatists killed three and wounded 22 in a bombing on the eastern megacity of Lahore.

More widely, Pakistan has been witnessing an uptick in militant attacks.

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said assaults rose by 24% between March and April.