ISLAMABAD - Unidentified gunmen shot dead seven Shiite Muslims in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday in two separate sectarian-motivated attacks, police and eye witnesses said.

In the first incident, four gunmen riding two motorcycles stopped a passenger bus and forced some people out of the vehicle and then they shot them dead, witnesses said.

Police said that all those killed were Shia Muslims and they were singled out among the passengers.

The gunmen sprayed bullets on those people and fled, witnesses said.

The slain men were going to work when came under attack at Hazar Ganji area in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, relatives of the victims said.

In another incident, gunmen shot dead two more Shiite Muslims only two hours after the first attack. The gunmen fled after the attack.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi always claim responsibility for such attacks.

Shia groups protested against the latest target attacks and blamed the police and other law enforcement agencies for their failure to stop the sectarian killings.