ISLAMABAD: Five militants and a Pakistani soldier were killed in a gunfight in southwest Pakistan late Thursday, the Pakistani military said, a day after authorities found the body of a serving army officer who was abducted earlier this week. 

Lieutenant Colonel Laeeq Mirza Baig was among two men abducted by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants in Ziarat on Tuesday. His body was found in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Thursday, with the BLA claiming responsibility for the killing. 

Pakistani security forces have since launched an operation in the restive, mountainous southwest to recover Baig's cousin, who the military has identified as Omer Javed. 

Security personnel and militants exchanged gunfire during a search in Khost area of Ziarat district late Thursday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military's media wing, said in a statement. 

"During ongoing recovery operation in Ziarat area, on night 14/15 July 22, a terrorists hideout was identified and cleared by security forces near Khost in Khalifat mountains," the ISPR said on Friday. 

"Once encircled, the terrorists opened fire onto the closing-in troops resulting into Shahadat of Havildar Khan Muhammad." 

The military said five BLA militants were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. "The sanitization operation, however, will continue in the area to apprehend remaining perpetrators and recover Mr Omer Javed," the ISPR added. 

Baig had been abducted by a group of 10-12 militants who shot him on the night of July 13/14 after being encircled by troops carrying out a search operation, according to the ISPR. Two militants were killed in the exchange of fire. 

The BLA seeks complete independence for Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province in terms of territory, where militants have been engaged in a decades-long insurgency against what they say is unfair exploitation of resources of the mineral-rich region.  

The Pakistani state denies the allegation and says it is working for the development of the province. Last year, then planning minister Asad Umar said the federal government had initiated 199 projects worth Rs601 billion as part of a Balochistan development package. 

Pakistani security forces have been the main focus of recent attacks, but militants have also targeted Chinese interests, given Beijing's increasing economic footprint in the province. 

The BLA demands that all Pakistani security forces withdraw from Balochistan.