QUETTA: At least 10 suspected militants were killed in a clash with Frontier Corps in the mountainous area of Panjgur district on Monday.

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfarz Bugti said at a press conference that the Panjgur Rifles of the FC were carrying out a search operation against militants when the shootout took place.

The operation, he said, was launched on the basis of intelligence reports that militant organisations were running training camps in the remote mountainous area.

Militants attacked FC personnel with rockets and advanced weapons, causing injuries to three soldiers. He said that the FC team fired back and killed 10 assailants. “A number of militants escaped after the encounter, the minister said.

Mr Bugti said that bodies of the militants would soon be presented before the media.

He said that the injured FC personnel were taken in a helicopter to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta.

According to the minister, the operation started early in the morning and continued till evening. Security forces destroyed a network of training camps and hideouts of militants and seized a heavy cache of arms and ammunition.

“Militants belonging to different banned organisations — including the Baloch Liberation Army, United Baloch Liberation Front, Baloch Republican Army and United Baloch Army — have been involved in the killing of innocent people and other subversive activities in different parts of Balochistan,” the minister said.

FC spokesman Wasay Khan claimed that three hideouts and two vehicles of militants were destroyed.

He said that helicopters had been used to transport FC personnel to the mountainous area.

He accused the slain militants of having been involved in attacks on rescue workers in the earthquake-hit district of Awaran and employees of Frontier Works Organisation working on the NA-85 highway project in Panjgur.