Islamabad: Security forces killed at least 10 militants during an operation on Monday against separatist militants in Panjgur district of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.

Panjgur is said to be a hub of ethnic Baloch militant groups involved in a long-running low-scale insurgency in mineral-rich Balochistan, the largest but the least populated province of the country.

A spokesman for the Frontier Corps (FC) told the media in the provincial capital, Quetta, that three soldiers were also seriously wounded in the clash with militants.

The exchange of fire between the security forces and insurgents continued for more than two hours, the spokesman said.