Four Pakistani paramilitary killed in blast: interior ministry

Four paramilitary troops were killed in a blast in western Pakistan on Friday, the interior minister said, as security forces battle a surge in separatist violence.

Two police officers who asked not to be named told AFP that security vehicles hit a roadside improvised bomb early in Margat Chowki, around 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

"The sacrifices of FC (border) soldiers for peace in Balochistan will always be remembered," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, adding that four people were killed.

Violence has surged in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, in recent years as separatist militant groups step up their fight against the state that they accuse of exploiting the region's natural resources.

Three civilians were killed in a separate roadside blast on a highway in Kalat on Thursday evening.

Jamil Baloch, a senior district government official, said that "authorities believe the terrorists had a different target, but the vehicle inadvertently came in the way".

Last year was the deadliest in nearly a decade in Pakistan, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad, with the vast majority of the attacks near the western border with Afghanistan.

In March, 33 militants and 18 off-duty security force members died when the Balochistan Liberation Army took control of a train with hundreds of passengers on board.