QUETTA, May 26: Two men were killed and 20 others, two women among them, injured in two rocket attacks here on Saturday evening.

Abdul Salam, 17, a labourer passing through Kandahari Bazaar on a bicycle, and Gul Zaman, another passer-by, were killed and 16 others injured when a rocket hit a shoe shop.

Police said Abdul Salam hailed from Qila Abdullah district and Gul Zaman from Pishin. A vehicle and the shop hit by the rocket were damaged.

A police official said most of the shops were closed when the rocket exploded.

Another rocket fired from the same direction exploded in Basti Panchayat, a predominantly Christian neighbourhood, injuring four people.

`At least four houses were badly damaged in the rocket attack,` Quetta police chief Mir Zubair said.

`Most of the people were attending a funeral when the attack took place,` Khalil Bhutto, a resident, said. A rocket had hit the colony way back in 2005, he recalled.

One Murid Baloch called reporters to claim that the United Baloch Army was responsible for the attacks. `Our target was the cantonment, but the rockets landed in a city area.