QUETTA – Unidentified gunmen shot dead six labourers in Quetta, officialssaid Friday, in the latest bout of violence to rock the restive region.

The murders took place overnight in Lajjey, about 170 kilometres (105miles) southwest of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, whereseparatist militants are active.

“Unidentified gunmen shot dead six labourers and wounded another, who is incritical condition,” local government official Hashim Ghilzai told AFP.

The labourers were working on a mobile tower and were sleeping in tents atthe site when the gunmen attacked, Ghilzai said, adding that “it appearedto be an act of terror”.

Local security official Tariq-ur-Rehman confirmed the incident andcasualties.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killings.

Separatist militants have previously targeted ethnic Punjabi and Sindhilabourers, who are largely considered outsiders in many parts of theprovince and viewed with deep suspicion.

Hundreds of soldiers and militants have been killed since the insurgencyflared up in the mid-2000s.

Pakistan also regularly accuses its eastern neighbour India of funding andarming the separatist insurgents. – APP/AFP