QUETTA: Security forces on Sunday foiled a major terror bid in Balochistan's Dera Bugti district, defusing an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing around 17 kilogram, officials said.

"Militants had planted the IED on a roadside in Sui tehsil of Dera Bugti. Security forces acted timely to defuse the device and avert any damage," Khan Wasey, spokesman for the Frontier Corps, said.

"Miscreants wanted to target security forces through the IED," Wasey added.

Armed men in the area have been targeting security forces and vital national installations for more than a decade.

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Four TTP suspects arrested

Security forces also arrested four suspected militants allegedly affiliated with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Qilla Saifullah and Pishin districts of Balochistan.

Security sources said three suspected militants were picked up from Nassai area of Qilla Saifullah during a raid in Karbala village of Pishin district.

"Security personnel are interrogating the arrested men", they said, who were shifted to an undisclosed location.

TTP has targeted security forces in Killa Saifullah, Sanjavi and other parts of northern Balochistan during the last few years.

Law-enforcement agencies have intensified their operations against terrorists in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan after the announcement of the National Action Plan to combat terrorism in the country.