Professor gunned down in Quetta

QUETTA: Gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a woman university professor in Quetta, where targeted killings blamed on tribal insurgents, sectarian groups and militants are increasing, police said.

Nazima Talib, 48, had just stepped into a rickshaw at the gate of Balochistan University in Quetta city when gunmen riding a motorbike sprayed her with bullets, senior police officer Tariq Manzoor said.

"She received multiple bullet wounds and died before she could be taken to hospital," Manzoor told AFP. "It was a targeted killing," he said.

Talib came from Punjab that regional insurgents in Balochistan accuse of siphoning off their resources and denying them independence, police said. She was a senior teacher in the mass communications department.