MOSCOW, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - At least 33 people were killed on Tuesday in a suicide car bomb attack in the central Pakistani town of Dera Ghazi Khan, officials said.

CNN quoted regional police chief Mubarak Ali Athar as saying the dead include two children, three women and 17 men. Dozens more were injured.

Officials said the blast may have targeted the nearby house of Zulfiqar Khosa, an adviser to the chief minister of the Punjab province. However, he was not injured in the attack.

Pakistani TV channels have shown rescuers trying to free people trapped under the debris.

Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks since the military launched an offensive against Taliban insurgents in South Waziristan in October. More than 500 people have died in the attacks.