ISLAMABAD: An army major and three militants were killed in a gunfight in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.
The exchange of fire occurred during an intelligence-based operation in Sambaza area of Balochistan’s Zhob district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Security forces effectively engaged the militants and killed three of them, seizing weapons, ammunition and explosives from the scene.
“During the intense exchange of fire, leading his troops from the front, Major Babar Khan (age: 33 years, resident of District Mianwali) having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced Shahadat,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorist present in the area.”
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, is the site of a low-level insurgency by separatists, who have recently carried out a number of attacks in the region.
In one of the major attacks, gunmen last month killed nine people, who hailed from the eastern Punjab province, after abducting them from a bus on a highway near the Noshki district. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Although the government says it has quelled militancy, violence by various groups has persisted in the region.
