At least two traffic policemen were killed today in an attack by gunmen in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, police said.
The gunmen targeted the policemen in the Sarki Road area of provincial capital Quetta.
A police official said that both attackers were also killed in the retaliatory firing by police, while four civilians present in the area were injured in the cross-firing.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Quetta Abdul Razzak Cheema visited the site of attack and condemned that incident.
He also asked the people of the province to help police in the fight against militancy.
"I appeal the citizens to inform us about any suspicious activity like this," he said.
Nobody claimed responsibility but Islamists extremists and Baloch nationalist militants are active in the province and often target security forces.
There have been more than 100 targeted attacks on police officials in Quetta since 2013, according to Aitzaz Goraya, DIG of the counterterrorism department of Baluchistan's police.
In 37 of these incidents, police officials were attacked near their houses; lone policemen were hit in 38 attacks while they were either travelling or performing their duties and in 26 incidents the victims were off-duty.
Senior police officials say that militants seem to either specifically target officers who have been pursuing operations against them or they launch counter-attacks immediately after a senior militant commander is arrested or killed.
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