By DPA
Islamabad : Unknown gunmen opened fire on a police patrol Thursday in southwest Balochistan province, killing three officers, officials said.
One policeman died on the spot and two others succumbed to their injuries at the hospital after the attack in the provincial capital Quetta, Superintendent of Police Abdul Hameed Khosa said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the assault, but Baloch nationalists seeking autonomy and a greater share of the province’s oil and gas wealth have been waging a guerrilla campaign against security forces for nearly three years.
The government of President Pervez Musharraf has used military and paramilitary forces to suppress the rebellion.
But Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, which won parliamentary elections Monday, said the incoming government would open negotiations with the rebels to end the conflict.