Eleven people killed in firing incident in Quetta

A woman was also among the dead in the attack in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, where militants and Baloch separatists are blamed for years of violence in the province that shares border with Iran and Afghanistan. — File Photo

QUETTA: Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Saturday, killing people and wounding three, police said.

A woman was also among the dead in the attack in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, where pro-Taliban militants and Baloch separatists are blamed for years of violence. The province shares border with Iran and Afghanistan.
“The vehicle was passing by a bus stand when gunmen riding in another car opened fire, killing at least 11 people and wounding three,” city’s police chief Hamid Shakeel told Reuters.
Saturday’s attack came a day after eight people were killed and about 25 wounded in two separate bomb and gun attacks in two districts of Balochistan.
Baloch nationalists have waged a low-scale insurgency for decades but Taliban militants with links to al Qaeda have also been active in Balochistan, the largest but poorest of Pakistan’s four provinces, and home to the country’s largest gas and oil reserves.
Pakistan has seen a surge in violence since al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in a secret raid in Pakistan in May. Militants have vowed revenge for bin Laden’s death.