4 cops killed by militants in Pakistan

Four policemen were killed yesterday in a gunbattle with militants in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police said, hours after four people died in a bomb blast in the region's capital.

Militants identified by police as being from the Pakistan Taliban opened fire on a pre-dawn patrol in Kuchlak, officials said, and were still on the run.

"Militants opened fire on a police team from a compound killing four policemen," senior local police official Muhammad Zohaib told AFP.