QUETTA: At least three bullet-riddled bodies were found Thursday in Dera Bugti district of insurgency-hit Balochistan province. In a separate incident, militants gunned down a college professor in Khuzdar district.

According to police, three bullet-riddled bodies were found in Gazagi Nallah near Sui tehsil of Dera Bugti.

The three victims belonged to a pro-government militia (Lashkar) in Dera Bugti, said a police official wishing not to be named since he was not authorised to speak to the media.

He said the bodies were shifted to a nearby hospital in Sui.

Oil and gas-rich Balochistan province is plagued by a long-running insurgency waged by guerrillas seeking an independent homeland. Tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in August 2006 in a military operation in Dera Bugti, one of the areas worst-affected areas by the insurgency.

Professor gunned down

In a separate incident on Thursday, militants gunned down a college professor in restive Khuzdar district, police said.

Two armed militants opened fire at Abdul Razzaq’s motorcycle on Chakar Khan Road, said police official Abdul Qadir.

Razzaq, who was a professor at Khuzdar Degree College, succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital, he said.

Another person Abdul Hakeem, who was traveling with the professor, was seriously wounded.

Police said the assailants managed to escape after the attack. “The incident seems to be an act of target killing,” said Qadir.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either incident.