QUETTA: Four police personnel were killed when unknown assailants opened fire on a police van in Quetta on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

The van which was conducting a routine patrol was attacked by two gunmen on the provincial capital's Sariab road.

The bodies of the police personnel were shifted to a nearby hospital.

Subsequently, police cordoned off the site of the attack and started a search for the assailants.

Senior police officer Shaukat Ali says Saturday's attack took place on the outskirts of Quetta. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Balochistan is believed to be a refuge for Taliban and Pakistani militants.

It has also witnessed a decades-long insurgency by nationalists who demand greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's resources such as natural gas and oil.

A bomb planted outside a seminary in Quetta killed 14 people on Thursday.