QUETTA: Two security personnel were killed and three wounded in an explosion in Balochistan’s Gwadar district on Saturday.

Police sources said that Coast Guard personnel were on routine patrolling when their vehicle hit a landmine in Kaldan area of Jewni Tehsil in Gwadar.

They said two personnel were killed on the spot whereas three sustained serious wounds. The injured personnel were rushed to nearby hospital for medical treatment.

The blast also damaged the security forces’ vehicle. Security forces cordoned off the area and started an investigation into the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Militants in the area have been targeting security personnel and pro-government politicians for last more than a decade.

In a separate incident in Dera Murad Jamali, security forces claimed to have foiled a major bid of terrorism by seizing weapons and arresting a suspected militant.

Security sources said one suspected militant was arrested and weapons were recovered from his possession in Dera Murad Jamali area of Naseerabad district.

Balochistan has been experiencing incident violence and targeted killings since more than a decade. More than 1,400 incidents targeting the minority Shia and Hazara community have taken place in the province during the past 15 years.

The largest province of the country by area, is home to a low-level insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists. Al Qaeda-linked and sectarian militants also operate in the region.