Gunmen kill one soldier, injure two others in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) - Two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Sunday on a checkpoint of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Pakistan's troubled south-west, killing one soldier and wounding two others, officials said.

The attack happened on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province where a separatist revolt has been waged for almost a decade.

Frontier Corps spokesman Abdul Wasey, who gave the casualty toll, said one of the attackers was killed when troops returned fire but the other escaped.

A police official, Bashir Brohi, confirmed the incident and casualties.

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Most recent attacks in Quetta have been linked to a Baluch separatist insurgency.

The rebels have been fighting since 2004 for political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's natural oil, gas and mineral resources.

Baluchistan is also a flashpoint for surging sectarian violence between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and Shiites, who account for around a fifth of the country's 180 million people.

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