QUETTA: Two people were injured as a result of gunfire in Quetta, DawnNews reported on Thursday.

Police said the men were wounded when unknown gunmen riding motorbikes opened fire on them in the provincial capital’s Akhtarabad area.

The injured were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital where their conditions were reported to be critical.

Both men were from the Hazara Shia community.

Balochistan, of which Quetta is the capital, is rife with Taliban militancy, sectarian violence targeted against minority Shia Muslims and a regional insurgency waged by separatists.

Violence has surged in the province this year and human rights activists have raised concerns about an increase in targeted killings.

In September, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said more than 100 Shias had been killed in sectarian attacks in Balochistan this year.