QUETTA: Gunmen killed three policemen in a drive-by shooting on the outskirts Quetta on Sunday, police said.

The shooting comes a day after gunmen on motorcycles shot dead eight men at a laundry in a busy area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, before fleeing.

"Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a police mobile van, killing three policemen," senior local police official, Sikandar Tareen, told AFP.

He said that the incident happened while the policemen were on a routine patrol in the area.

Another local police official Abdul Qayyum also confirmed the incident and casualties.

Police and security forces are frequently attacked in insurgency-plagued Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

There was no claim of responsibility for the latest incident, but Balochistan suffers from militancy, sectarian violence and a separatist insurgency. -- AGENCIES