At least Pakistani security forces and four terrorists were killed during a heavy gun battle when a police post was attacked by suspected terrorists in Quetta city on Thursday, media reports said.

According to officials, a group of armed men launched an assault on a joint post of police and forest guards in Shaban, located about 20km northeast of Quetta, reported Dawn News.

A heavy exchange of firing ensued after the security forces retaliated during the attack on the police post located in  Shaban.

“Our two personnel were martyred,” a senior police officer told Dawn, adding that Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel and Frontier Corps (FC) troops reached the site and launched a counter-attack against the assailants.

“In the counter-attack by CTD, four armed attackers were killed,” DIG Quetta Atizaz Goraya told Dawn News.

The deceased policemen were identified as Shamsul Islam and Muhammad Ramzan.