QUETTA, July 15: Four men of the Hazara Shia community were killed and two others injured in an attack on the Masjid road here on Monday.

Police said Raza Hussain, the owner of an electronic items shop, and his colleagues were going home after closing the shop when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on their vehicle. The attackers escaped after the shooting.

The deceased were identified as Raza Hussain, Ali Raza, Hussain Raza, and Idrees, and the injured as Taqqi and Faizul Haq.

The injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital and later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital where they were said to be in critical condition.

Doctors said the deceased had received multiple bullet wounds.

CCPO Quetta Mir Zubair Mehmood said police were trying to arrest the killers.

He said it was impossible to deploy police at every nook and corner.

DIG (Operations) Fayyaz Sumbal confirmed that the deceased belonged to Hazara Shia community.Angry members of the community protested outside the Civil Hospital and blocked the nearby roads, including Jinnah and Inscumb roads.

They raised slogans against the administration and said it had failed in protecting people’s lives.

The Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen and the Balochistan Shia Conference announced a day of mourning and the Hazara Democratic Party and some other organisations called for a shutter-down strike on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the killings.

The interior minister asked IGP Balochistan Mushtaq Sukhira to submit a report on the incident and ensure the arrest of killers as early as possible. Governor Balochistan Mohammad Khan Achakzai and Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch also condemned the attack and directed the officials concerned to take appropriate measures to bring the killers to book.