Officials in Pakistan said a roadside bomb blast Friday struck a military convoy in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing at least six members of a security force and injuring 14 others.
An army statement said that personnel of the paramilitary Frontier Corps were conducting an operation against a "terrorists' hideout" in the Turbat district when their convoy came under attack from armed forces in the surrounding mountains.
"Terrorists targeted one of the vehicles of security forces through [an] IED [improvised explosive device]. Six security personnel embraced martyrdom," it said, adding an ensuing firefight killed four terrorists.
Three separatist groups — the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the so-called Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) — claimed they jointly carried out the attack.
Resource-rich Baluchistan has been the scene of major militant attacks. But the violence has significantly decreased in recent years.
Last month, BLA militants assaulted the Chinese consulate in the southern port city of Karachi. The attackers killed four people, including two policemen, before they were gunned down by Pakistani security forces.
China is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Pakistan, and some are in Baluchistan. The mega-development cooperation is aimed at linking the two countries as part of Beijing's global Belt and Road Initiative.
In July, a massive suicide bombing in Baluchistan ripped through an election rally, killing nearly 130 people and injuring dozens more.
Islamic State's regional branch, Khorasan Province or ISK-P, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
