QUETTA: Two policemen, including a senior officer, were gunned down and another was injured here on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Assailants targeted one policeman in the main city areas and the other in Hazar Ganji vegetable market located on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

Police officials said on Wednesday the assailants attacked the policemen who were guarding the fruit and vegetable sellers of Shia Hazara community.

“Armed men riding a motorcycle opened fire on police personnel, resulting in the killing of one constable on the spot and serious injuries to another,” Deputy Inspector General Police Range Abdul Razzaq Cheema said.

Vegetable sellers of Hazara community visit Hazar Ganji vegetable market daily in an escort of three police mobiles and an Armoured Personnel Carrier. The three mobiles and the APC stand guard at the three gates of the market.

“Armed men targeted the police constables who were having breakfast while sitting outside the APC,” Mr Cheema said, adding that the constable killed on the spot received bullet injuries on his head while the other one also received multiple injuries.

Police identified the deceased constable as Abdul Qadir and the injured one as Dolat Khan.

It was the second targeted attack on police personnel within 24 hours as a traffic police sergeant Hafizullah Niazi was gunned down late on Tuesday night while patrolling the Kandahari Bazaar.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2018