ISLAMABAD, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani security forces killed 15 terrorists in a large-scale clearance operation following a deadly overnight attack on a police check post in the country's southwest Balochistan province that left nine police personnel dead, a provincial government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Assistant to the Balochistan Chief Minister for Political and Media Affairs, Shahid Rind, told Xinhua that the attack occurred late Monday night in the Ziarat district, where heavily armed militants stormed a police check post, triggering an intense gun battle that lasted for several hours.
Following the assault, security forces launched a coordinated clearance operation involving the Frontier Corps, Balochistan Police, the Counter Terrorism Department, the Special Operations Wing and the Anti-Terrorism Force, said the official.
"The joint clearance operation has been successfully completed, during which 15 terrorists were killed, and there will be no safe haven for them in the province," said Rind, adding that 8 police personnel who had been abducted during the assault safely reached back in the result of the operation. ■