QUETTA, Feb 24: A man and his three sons were killed and two other sons injured in an attack on their car here on Tuesday night.

According to sources, Afghan national Gulab Shah was going home with his five sons after closing his welding shop in the Sariab area when gunmen on two motorbikes opened fire on their car near Mengal Street in the Nichari area.

Frontier Corps personnel took the bodies and the injured to the Civil Hospital.

Gulab Shah and his sons Mehtab Shah, Rahim Shah and Jalil Shah died while Syed Agha and Syed Qadir were injured. “Their condition is critical,” Dr Jaffar Khan Kakar said about the injured boys. According to family sources, Gulab Shah had been living in Quetta for several years.

Deputy Inspector-General (Operation) of Police Wazir Khan Nasar said it was too early to ascertain the motive behind the attack. Another officer said it was a ‘target killing’.

A large number of people belonging to the Hazara tribe gathered outside the hospital. Police launched a search operation and took some people into custody.