Gunmen kill 18 in attack on van in Pakistan, official says

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- At least 18 people were killed and five injured after attackers opened fire on a passenger van in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province Friday, a senior administration official said.

Eight armed men fired on a passenger van that then caught fire because it was parked near a gas pump in the city of Khuzdar, said Mansoor Kakar, deputy commissioner for Khuzdar.

As the flames spread, four shops also caught fire, Kakar told CNN.

Kakar said that women and children were among those killed. The attackers fled the scene unharmed, he added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, which has the country's largest reserve of gas, has seen violent clashes between suspected insurgents and security forces in the past few years.

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