ISLAMABAD: At least killed 19 militants and one soldier were killed in multiple operations in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province over the last three days, the Pakistani military said on Wednesday.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of decades-long separatist insurgency and has witnessed an uptick in attacks by separatist and religiously motivated militant groups.

Pakistan’s military said security forces had been conducting an intelligence-based operation in Shaban area of Balochistan’s capital Quetta since Sept. 21 and had engaged and cleared multiple militant hideouts.

“Following an intense exchange of fire, 13 Indian-sponsored terrorists have been killed so far,” it said. “Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the cleared hideouts. The clearance operation will continue until the complete neutralization of the threat in the area.”

There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.

Separately, Pakistani troops conducted pre-emptive intelligence-based operations in District Kech and District Quetta West on September 22-23.

“During the operations, troops effectively engaged the terrorists and, following an intense exchange of fire, six terrorists were killed,” the military said. “During the exchange of fire, Subedar Muhammad Jamil aged thirty-nine, resident of Taunsa Sharif, District Dera Ghazi Khan, a son of the soil made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty and embraced shahadat (martyrdom).”

The statement came a day after unidentified gunmen killed two police constables deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in the region, a police official said. Though no group claimed responsibility for the attack, Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate polio have often faced resistance from militant groups in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

In July this year, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatist groups launched coordinated assaults in the southwestern province that killed dozens, including 27 policemen, in Balochistan’s Ziarat and Quetta districts. Pakistani forces have since carried out multiple operations in these areas.

Islamabad has frequently accused India of supporting and Afghanistan of providing safe havens to militants who carry out attacks in the mineral-rich province. New Delhi and Kabul have consistently denied this.