Eight settlers killed in Quetta

Eight people, including a policeman, were killed and one man was left injured in a deadly armed attack here on Saturday. Police said unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire on a laundry shop in the Sariyab area in the outskirts of Quetta. As a result, five people were killed on the spot and four others sustained critical injuries. Another three died of their injuries at a hospital. Police said the attack was carried out by two men on a motorcycle, who sprayed a volley of bullets on the shop while the people inside were having lunch. Most of the deceased were said to have hailed from Sindh and had come to Quetta for work. The owner of the shop Mohammad Shezad got injured, but escaped with his life. Police officials said the incident was being thoroughly investigated and the reason behind the deadly attack could be old enmity. A case was registered against unidentified people, however no arrests had been made so far.
No group or person claimed responsibility for the attack by the time the report was filed. “At least eight men were killed and another man was wounded,” confirmed senior police official Iskandar Tareen. Initial investigations indicated the victims were “settlers”, he said. The country’s restive province Balochistan suffers from militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims and a separatist insurgency that also targets non-natives. Meanwhile, a man was gunned down in Faizabab area of Quetta on Saturday, police said. They said unidentified men riding a motorbike opened fire at Khudae Nazar who was on way to a bazaar in his car. He was killed on the spot.