QUETTA: At least eight security personnel and 15 militants were killed in fierce clashes in Chamalang area of Kohlu district on Thursday night and Friday.

According to sources, 12 security men were injured in the clashes which continued till late Friday night. Two ‘commanders’ were reported to be among the dead militants.

But a Frontier Corps (FC) spokesman disputed the casualty figure and said: “Four of our soldiers and eight militants have been killed.” He said the assailants had attacked FC personnel whom were on duty in the area and firing continued till evening.

A spokesman for the banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed that BLA militants had carried out the attack.

The sources said the clashes began when armed men attacked an FC convoy in Shanwari top area on Thursday evening, killing one man and injuring two others.

FC troops deployed in the area rushed to the place and four militants were killed in clashes during the night.

After the arrival of reinforcements, FC personnel launched a search for militants, leading to more clashes. “Gun-battles continued on Friday.

Twenty-three people, eight security men among them, have been killed over the past 24 hours,” the sources said.

They said five FC personnel injured on Thursday night and seven on Friday had been taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Loralai.

“Clashes are continuing in Qila Waliyat, Gagal, Sargar, Chanda and Shanwari top,” the sources said late in the night.

Five of the FC men killed were identified as Ghulam Mohammad, Kashif, Faisal Tufail, Ahmed Nawaz and Rehmatullah.

The militants killed included Din Mohammad, Nawab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.

Militants claimed that security forces were using helicopter gunships and heavy weapons.

However, official sources said helicopters had been sent for taking the injured and the bodies of FC men to Loralai.