Thirteen people were killed in Pakistan during clashes that took place on Saturday night between special forces during an attack on their base and unknown militants who detained the families of a number of its members, as the army announced Sunday.

The Pakistani army indicated that "well-equipped" fighters stormed the security base in the town of Muslim Bagh in Balochistan province (southwest) and captured three families in a residential building.

The army's media office said the clashes continued from Friday evening to Saturday morning.

The media office added that the six attackers were killed along with six members of the government security forces and one civilian. Six others, including a woman, were also wounded.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but Baloch separatist movements have waged a decades-old insurgency against the state in the province, often targeting security forces.

The Pakistani Taliban is also active in the region.

Funerals for some of the dead were held in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, on Saturday.

On the same day, the separatist Baluchistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for an attack on the security forces guarding an oil and gas exploration team south, in the Qalat district, in Balochistan.