KARACHI (AFP) - Four policemen were shot dead and another wounded in Karachi on Wednesday in the latest bloodshed to hit Pakistan's violence-plagued economic capital.

A spokesman for the police said the men were eating at a roadside restaurant in the city when unidentified gunmen rode up on motorcycles and opened fire.

They were rushed to hospital where four succumbed to their injuries, the spokesman said.

Attacks on police and law enforcement agencies have been rampant in Karachi, a volatile city of 20 million people, and dozens of policemen have been killed during the current year.

However, attacks have fallen somewhat as police and government paramilitary Rangers have mounted an operation at curbing the city's rampant violence.