ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed five separatist militants during an operation in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province region, the prime minister’s office said on Wednesday.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a long running separatist insurgency and has witnessed an uptick in violence over the recent years.

The militants were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Washuk district, with security personnel seizing arms, ammunition and explosives from the site, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office.

“The ongoing successful operations by security forces demonstrate our unwavering national resolve against terrorists,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.

“Security forces’ operations will continue with full national support and vigor until the scourge of terrorism is completely eradicated from the country.”

The operation came amid intensified attacks by separatist groups in the southwestern province, targeting Pakistani security forces, infrastructure, construction sites and kidnapping non-native Pakistanis in recent weeks.

On Monday, two people, including a police constable, were killed and three others injured in a militant attack in Balochistan’s Quetta city, a police official said. Last week, counterterrorism police killed 10 suspected militants in an operation in the region’s Barkhan district, authorities said.

Islamabad has frequently accused India of backing and Afghanistan of providing safe havens to militants who carry out attacks in Balochistan. New Delhi and Kabul have consistently denied this.