Pakistan blast: Police said seven members of the Pakistan paramilitary force were killed.
Seven paramilitary troops were killed by a blast Tuesday near a site in southwestern Pakistan where the president had visited less than half an hour earlier, officials said.
The so-called ISIS group claimed responsibility on its Telegram channels, saying one of its fighters detonated an explosive belt at a gathering of security forces.
The group claimed responsibility at the weekend for a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar on Friday that killed 62 people and injured nearly 200.
Officials said the latest assault was in Sibi district, less than 800 metres (yards) from where Pakistani President Arif Alvi attended a function earlier in the day.
Seven members of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary were killed, according to senior police official Dostain Dashti.
"The explosion happened some 25 minutes after the president left the area," he told AFP, adding that initial investigations suggested it was a suicide attack.
Hashim Ghilzai, a senior administration official from Balochistan, confirmed the death count.
In an unrelated security operation, the Pakistan military's public relations wing said seven terrorists had been killed in the province on Tuesday.
"In addition, a significant cache of arms and ammunition has also been recovered which was intended to be used in terrorist activities," it said in a statement.
Balochistan -- which borders Iran and Afghanistan -- is Pakistan's poorest province, despite its abundance of natural resources.
In recent weeks separatists have stepped up attacks with a series of bold raids on state security bases.
Last month Baloch separatists staged a four-day attack across two locations in the province, killing nine soldiers.
Insurgents have long harboured resentment against lucrative mining and energy projects in the region, saying locals do not see the benefits.
Tensions have further flared in recent years following a massive influx of Chinese investment under Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.
China is upgrading energy links and infrastructure as part of a $54 billion programme known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, with both nations wary of security threats to the projects.