Doha: At least three people were killed and seven others injured Wednesday in an armed attack targeting a passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan. Local sources reported that a passenger bus heading to Quetta was attacked in the Qalat district of Balochistan province in the southwest of the country, killing three people and wounding seven others who were transferred to a nearby hospital.

According to Qatar News Agency, security forces cordoned off the area to search for the attackers. Pakistan has witnessed a significant increase in attacks in recent months, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistani forces have been working for years to eliminate armed groups entrenched in mountainous areas and launching occasional attacks against security personnel and civilians.