QUETTA: Armed militants killed three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel in Balochistan's Chaghi district adjacent to the Afghan border Sunday afternoon. Two assailants were also killed when security forces retaliated.

A security official who declined to be named since he was not authorised to speak to media told Dawn.com that militants attacked the Qila Kurd check post near the Afghan border in Chaghi.

The official said militants had entered from Afghanistan into Pakistan to target security forces. The dead bodies of militants are also under the custody of security forces.

The official said the militants used automatic weapons in the attack, adding that additional FC personnel were called in the area after the attack to avert a similar incident while security was also tightened across the porous Afghan border.

Balochistan, which also borders Afghanistan, is gripped by violence blamed on separatist insurgents and Taliban militants.

Hundreds of people have died since dissenters rose up in 2004 demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's natural oil, gas and mineral resources.

In recent times, forces and the government have claimed that the unrest in the insurgency-hit province is a result of foreign interference, which has been blamed on Afghan and Indian spy agencies.

Pakistan has also dug out a 500 km trench along the porous Pak-Afghan border to stop the flow of weapons, militants and narcotics into Pakistan.

The width and depth of the trench is 10 feet by 10 feet, according to Major General Sher Afgan, the chief of Frontier Corps, who claims the trench helped security forces in stemming the flow of narcotics and weapons from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

Also read: Trench along Pak-Afghan border enrages Kabul.