Pakistani soldiers searching a cave in Kohlu in southwest Balochistan province have found the body of slain tribal leader Nawab Akhtar Bugti.

However, it is expected to take a day or two to retrieve the body as it was pinned under a boulder.

While a local daily reported that two soldiers who managed to crawl deep into the collapsed cave spotted Bugti's body lying under a boulder, Pakistan's Defence Spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said the army already knew that the body of the Baloch leader was inside and could be retrieved in a day or two.

"We already knew that his (Bugti's) body was buried inside the cave and rescue teams have been working hard to enter deep inside the cave without causing further collapse of the structure," Sultan told PTI in Islamabad.

He, however, declined to comment on a report stating that two soldiers who managed to crawl inside spotted the body. "It is a media report. But we knew his body was there," he said.

A team of army engineers headed by a Brigadier worked at the site near Kohlu in southwest Balochistan province, Sultan said.

Five helicopters ferried equipment to excavate the cave, which, he said, collapsed in an explosion when armymen were entering it to negotiate with Bugti. Asked about the time to recover the body, he said it was difficult to fix a time-frame because the army team is working with only one crane and usage of any heavy equipment could cause further collapse.    

The operation to retrieve his body was launched as protests continued to rock Balochistan and parts of Karachi over his killing and the government's failure to hand over the body.

Bugti's family and supporters have already held funeral prayers without his body at Quetta two days ago amid heavy violence. Opposition parties have demanded that the body be handed over for proper funeral.

Bugti's family members and several Baloch leaders had expressed apprehension that Pakistan army has Bugti's body but was not handing it over. The government, however, denied it and launched operations to retrieve the body.