QUETTA: Five people were injured in a firing incident at a Quetta-bound passenger coach on the Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan Highway near Sheikmela area on Friday.

According to officials, a private transport company`s coach was traveling from Islamabad to Quetta when a group of armed men attempted to intercept it at gunpoint in the Sheikmela area.The driver sped up the coach, prompting the armed men to open fire, injuring five passengers, including a 14-year-old boy who sustained a bullet wound to the chest.

Following the incident, security forces rushed to the area and shifted the injured to the district hospital in Zhob. The boy was later transferred to the Combined Military Hospital in Zhob, according to the officials.

A search operation has been launched to trace the group responsible for the attack.