Four FC personnel martyred in Quetta

QUETTA: Four paramilitary personnel were martyred on Wednesday in an attack by gunmen in Quetta, officials said, a day after four policemen were killed in the city.

The attackers riding a motorcycle targeted a paramilitary patrol vehicle on the busy Double Road and fled after the shooting, authorities said.

Two officers died on the spot while another two succumbed to their injuries in hospital. All four personnel belonged to the Frontier Corps paramilitary force. 

"Four paramilitary soldiers were martyred and two other soldiers and a civilian were wounded in the firing by unknown gunmen on motorcycle," Frontier Corps spokesman Khan Wasay said.

Home Secretary for the Balochistan province Akbar Harifal confirmed the incident.

No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident took place a day after four policemen were killed by unidentified gunmen in two separate incidents in the provincial capital. 

In the first incident Tuesday, a group of criminals ambushed a police party on the Double road as they were preparing to launch an arrest raid. The police driver and another officer were injured and died from their wounds before they could be transferred to hospital.

In a second attack, two gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at a pair of police officers in a minority Hazara community area as they were going to buy food for their evening meal. Both policemen died at the scene.

Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, rich in resources and at the heart of multi-billion-dollar energy and infrastructure projects which China and Pakistan are planning along a corridor stretching from the Arabian Sea to China's Xinjiang region.

The province, the poorest and least developed in Pakistan, has suffered nearly a decade of militant violence against the government.