QUETTA: At least four policemen were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fired at their vehicle in Quetta's Pashtoonabad area on Saturday.

Police sources told DawnNews that armed men opened fire at a police mobile in Mullah Salam Road area of Pashtoonabad. They said the policemen were on routine patrol when miscreants attacked their vehicle.

Three policemen were killed on the spot whereas one succumbed to his injuries on way to a hospital.

According to police sources, those killed included an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), a driver and two constables.

Bodies of the slain policemen were brought to Civil Hospital Quetta for postmortem.

Police said the assailants escaped unhurt after carrying out the attack.

Police and Frontier Corps personnel reached the site and started an investigation into the incident. Shops in the area were closed following the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti visited the site of the attack. He said the lives of policemen lost today were a sacrifice for safety of the nation.

Incidents of targeted violence frequently take place in the restive Balochistan province.

Today's violence comes a week after armed men kidnapped about two dozen passengers from two Karachi-bound coaches and killed at least 22 of them in Khad Kocha, a mountainous area about 70km southeast of Quetta, in Balochistan's Mastung district.

PM Nawaz, President Mamnoon condemn attack

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned the attack on the police vehicle.

Prime Minister Nawaz extended condolences to the families of the policemen who lost their lives in the incident, a statement from the PM House said.

"Such incidents cannot weaken the government's resolve in eliminating the menace of terrorism and extremism," the premier said.

The prime minister has directed the authorities to apprehend the perpetrators of the attack at the earliest.