Woman among six IS militants killed in encounter in Pakistan: Police

A woman was among the six militants of the Islamic State terror group killed in an encounter after security forces raided a terrorist hideout on Wednesday in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, police said.

Inspector General of Police Mohsin Hassan Butt said that an official of the  Balochistan Constabulary was also killed in the operation carried out near Eastern Bypass in the provincial capital Quetta, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Butt said that the militants belonged to the Islamic State group.

Eight other personnel from the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) were injured, one of whom is said to be critical.

Butt said that the operation, that lasted for six hours, was carried out by officials of the intelligence agencies, counter-terrorism department and ATF.

The security forces also recovered a large quantity of weapons and ammunition from the militants.

The bodies of the terrorists have been shifted to a hospital in Quetta for postmortem.

Another security official, who declined to be named, said the militants were involved in a series of targeted killings and bomb explosions in Balochistan.

Following the operation, a large contingent of police and other security personnel was deployed at the site of the raid.

According to a spokesperson of the Counter Terrorism Department, the raid took place after the security agencies received reports about the presence of terrorists in the area, Geo TV reported.

The woman, who was wearing a suicide jacket, blew herself up during the encounter, the spokesperson said.