QUETTA: Two members of the Hazara Shia community were killed and three others wou­nded when armed men on motorcycles attacked a vehicle on Sunday in the Hazarganji area of Quetta, police said.

Police said the victims were vegetable sellers ret­urning from a wholesale market.

A senior pol­ice official termed the incident a targeted killing.

“They were going back to Hazara town and when they reached the Akhtar­abad area ... unknown armed men riding motorcycles opened fire at the vehicle, killing two on the spot and injuring three others,” a senior police officer Muhammad Khair Sumalani said.

Soon after the shooting, police and paramilitary personnel rushed to the site and moved the bodies and the injured to hospital.

“We have received two bodies and three injured in the trauma centre,” hospital spokesman Dr Wasim Baig said.

Following the attack, members of the Hazara community blocked the western bypass, suspending all traffic. Local administration deployed a heavy contingent of security forces to the area to avoid any untoward incident as officials negotiated with protesters to open the road.

No one has claimed res­ponsibility for the killings. Police have launched an investigation and a search operation to find the attackers.

The Hazarganji area has been the site of numerous past attacks, including bombings and shootings that have targeted vegetable sellers.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti and Home Minister Ziaullah Langove have taken serious notice of the incident and directed the Inspector General of Police for Balochistan to submit an immediate report.

They expressed their grief and instructed hospital officials to provide the best possible treatment to the injured.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026