QUETTA, Jan 1: At least three personnel of Frontier Corps and a retired FC official were killed and three others injured when a landmine exploded in Dera Bugti district on Sunday.

Police sources said two landmines had been planted in the Aasreli area, some 10km from Sui town, and an official vehicle carrying FC personnel hit one of them.

The proscribed Baloch Republican Army has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The FC personnel killed were identified as Naik Qasim, Shadi Khan and Qudratullah but the name of the retired official could not be obtained.

Law-enforcement personnel took the bodies and the injured to the Sui hospital. They cordoned off the entire area and looked for suspects.

The Levies Force registered a case and started investigation.

“Troops are patrolling the area. Three soldiers were killed and two were injured. It was a landmine blast,” a spokesman for Frontier Corps told AFP.

The Balochistan province, which neighbours both Afghanistan and Iran, is gripped by a low-intensity conflict. It is a flashpoint for Taliban, sectarian and nationalist violence.