Pakistan’s security forces kill two militants in southwestern Balochistan

In this representational photo, Pakistani soldiers patrol next to a newly fenced border fencing along Afghan border at Kitton Orchard Post in northwest Pakistan on October 18, 2017. (AFP/File)

• The ISPR says a large quantity of equipment and explosives were recovered from the dead militants
• The security forces carried out intelligence-based operation in Kech that led to a heavy exchange of fire

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces killed two militants in an intelligence-based operation in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province, said the army’s media wing, ISPR, in a statement issued on Saturday.
The operation was carried out in the Kech district on the night of October 6 and led to a heavy exchange of fire that resulted in the death of the two militants.
Balochistan shares a porous border with Iran and Afghanistan and has long been a battleground for a low-level insurgency. Baloch nationalists argue they are fighting against the unfair extraction of the province’s resources by the federal government, an accusation Islamabad denies.
“The killed terrorists had been actively involved in multiple terrorist activities against the law enforcement agencies,” the ISPR informed.
It added that a large quantity of equipment and explosives had been recovered from them in the wake of the operation.
The ISPR did not name the group of the militants, though there are a number of armed factions operating in the province where Pakistan and China are jointly undertaking infrastructure development and regional connectivity projects.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent days.
Balochistan also experienced a major suicide attack targeting a religious congregation in Mastung last month that killed nearly 60 people.