ISLAMABAD, June 20 (Xinhua) -- At least four terrorists and a child were killed and eight others injured in a shoot-out between security forces and terrorists in Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan on Wednesday morning, an official said.

A spokesperson from the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said that the encounter started after security forces cordoned off a compound in Tera Meel area of Dasht in Mastung, a district near the provincial capital of Quetta.

The terrorists attacked security forces with automatic guns and hand grenades. One of the terrorists came out of the compound and exploded his explosives-laden jacket near an armored vehicle, which injured seven security personnel.

A four-year-old child was killed and his mother injured when a hand grenade hurled by the terrorists landed in a neighboring house.

Security forces killed all the terrorists, including a woman, present in the building. All the injured were shifted to the civil hospital where two of the wounded were reportedly in critical condition.

Police and security forces have launched a search operation in the area to find any possible aid of the terrorists.

According to the official, the killed terrorists were involved in an attack at the security forces' vehicle on Friday in Quetta city in which three personnel were killed.