Quetta, Pakistan:
At least six people were killed in southwest Pakistan when security forces exchanged fire with suspected militants during an operation to recover abductees, officials said on Friday.
The exchange of fire took place in the restive Baluchistan province, which is rife with ethnic insurgency and sectarian violence.
"Our forces were conducting an operation on Thursday to recover some kidnapped people from the Baluch militants, they faced resistance and five militants were killed in retaliatory firing," Asad Gilani, home secretary of Baluchistan province, told AFP.
"One soldier also embraced martyrdom while another got wounded during the clash," he said.
A senior official of the paramilitary Frontier Corps also confirmed the causalities.
"The militants attacked when forces were going to conduct a search operation for abductees near Dera Bugti area. They retaliated and five militants were killed, one soldier also lost his life," he told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
Many Baluch separatist groups and Al-Qaeda-led Taliban and Lashka-e-Jhangvi militants are active in the area. Kidnapping for ransom is a major source of funding for all outlawed militants.
An insurgency pushing for political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's oil, gas and mineral resources began in the province in 2004.