Armed separatists stormed a house and shot dead six labourers and injured two others on Saturday in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, a senior police official said.

The incident occurred in a house in the satellite town area of Turbat city -- about 606 kilometres south of Quetta.

“Armed men entered the house where the labourers were staying and opened indiscriminate firing, killing six of them on the spot and leaving two others injured,” the police official said. The injured have been transferred to the nearby hospital.

He said the initial investigation suggested the labourers were from outside Balochistan and worked at a private construction project in the city.

This is not the first time that labourers who come to Balochistan to work on various projects have been targeted by separatist groups.

No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack.

Separatist groups which are outlawed by the government have in the past frequently targeted migrant labourers, government and security installations and officials.

For nearly two decades, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by the Baluchistan Liberation Army and other separatist groups demanding independence from the central government in the capital, Islamabad.

Baluch separatists also often target people from Punjab province.

Punjabi and Sindhi workers were previously targeted.

Although the government says it has quelled the insurgency, violence in the province has persisted.

Islamic militants also operate in the region.

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