An army statement announced Thursday that ten Pakistani troops were killed in a checkpoint gunfight earlier this week, in an incident that separatists in the country's restive southern province of Balochistan claimed responsibility for.

Ten Pakistani soldiers were killed "during an intense exchange of fire" while defending a station in the Kech area of Balochistan overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Pakistani army.

Army troops killed one assailant and injured many others, according to the statement, which also stated that three gunmen had been apprehended as part of a "clearance operation" to "hunt down perpetrators."

Separatist group the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed credit for the assault in a statement to AFP, claiming 17 military deaths. The separatist group statement confirmed one of their own militants was killed in the clash.

The Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA), another separatist group from the province, carried off a bombing in the eastern city of Lahore last week, killing three people. Separatists have waged an insurgency in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but least populous province, which borders Iran, for years. It is the country's poorest region, but it is mineral-rich.

The mountainous area of Kech is located just north of Gwadar, Pakistan. Last April, four people were killed and many were injured in a suicide bombing at a fancy hotel in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, which was hosting the Chinese envoy. The diplomat escaped with minor injuries.