QUETTA: Three suspected militants were killed in a gunbattle with security forces in Hoshab area of Kech district, a spokesman for Frontier Corps said here on Tuesday.

He said seven suspected militants were taken into custody after the gunbattle.

The FC personnel destroyed four hideouts of the militants after seizing a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from there, he added.

Officials said that the paramilitary troops along with the personnel of an intelligence agency conducted a joint search operation in Hoshab`s mountainous area called Kulwa on Monday`s night after receiving information about the presence of militants.They said when the personnel after cordoning off the area were moving towards the hideouts the militants opened fire on them from inside. The personnel returned Hre and an exchange of Kre between them continued for several hours.

FC spokesman Khan Wasey said the militants belonged to the banned Baloch Liberation Army. He said one of the dead militants, Akhtar Nadeem, was the local leader of the group.

He claimed that the militants killed in the gunbattle were involved in target killings, attacks on the convoys of security forces, kidnapping and creating hurdles in the construction work on highways.

The weapons seized from the hideouts included four rifles, two sub-machineguns, three shotguns and thousands of rounds.

Anti-state literatures were also found in the hideouts.