Gunmen kill 3 Pakistani paramilitary troops in Quetta

QUETTA, Pakistan — Gunmen riding on motorcycles in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta shot and killed three paramilitary officers on Friday before fleeing, an official said.

The officers were on guard duty when they were attacked, according to Wasay Khan, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps. Two died at the scene, while the third succumbed to his wounds at a hospital, the spokesman added.

Baluchistan, where Quetta is the provincial capital, has long been the centre of a low-level insurgency by small separatist groups demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region’s natural resources such as gas and oil.

The government says it’s trying to improve the local economy and bring the separatists into mainstream politics. There have been attacks on security forces and members of the minority Shiite sect in the provincial capital and its surroundings in recent months.