At least eight people were killed and five others injured in three separate incidents of bomb explosions and firing in Pakistan on Monday, local Urdu media reported.

Dawn News said a four-year-old boy was killed while his two playmates were injured when a bomb exploded near them in Quetta in southwest Balochistan province.

Police said the kids were playing outside their home when the incident happened.

Police officer Izzat Ali was quoted by Xinhua as saying that they were investigating the motive behind the explosion.

In a separate incident, in Karak district of the country's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, three people, including a woman, were killed and two others injured in a militant attack.
 

Police said the victims were on their way home after attending a hearing at a local court when some militants sprayed bullets at their vehicle and fled the scene.

The injured people have been shifted to a nearby hospital.

In the third incident, in Nowshera district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, four people were killed when some assailants forced entry into their home and opened fire at them.

No group has claimed any of the attacks yet.

Police cordoned off all the three areas for investigation following the incidents.