Pakistani troops kill 3 militants in raid in southwest

Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout Friday in the country's volatile southwest, triggering a firefight that killed three insurgents, the military said.

The raid took place in Kech, a town in Baluchistan province where separatists armed with assault rifles attacked two Pakistani military posts earlier in the week, killing seven soldiers.

The twin attacks in the districts of Naushki and Panjgur in Baluchistan also left 13 militants dead, according to the military. The fighting began on Wednesday and ended hours later, on Thursday. Friday's raid was part of the operation launched the previous day to trace those behind the latest attacks.

A recently formed separatist group, the Baluchistan Nationalist Army, had claimed responsibility for the attacks in Naushki and Panjgur.

The military said two high-value separatists — commanders of units in Baluchistan — were among the slain insurgents in Friday's raid, but did not elaborate.

Various separatist groups in Baluchistan have regularly staged such attacks in recent years, seeking independence from the central government in Islamabad. Authorities say they have quelled the insurgency, but violence has persisted.