Pakistan's military says 18 troops and 23 separatist rebels have been killed in fighting in northwestern Balochistan province.

Fresh clashes in Balochistan province of Pakistan led to the death of at least 18 paramilitary soldiers and 23 militants. The attack, carried out by 70-80 Baloch militants, reportedly targeted a vehicle carrying unarmed troops near Kalat.

The BLA, which has been waging an armed insurgency in the region for decades, later claimed responsibility for the attack. The separatist group has carried out a series of deadly assaults in recent years, often targeting security forces, ethnic Punjabis, and Chinese nationals working on development projects in Balochistan.

Pakistani separatist militants claimed on Saturday an attack on a highway in a volatile southwestern province that killed 18 paramilitaries and seriously wounded three others.

Eighteen paramilitaries were killed and three others seriously wounded in an attack in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, police and local officials told AFP on Saturday. A vehicle "carrying unarmed Frontier Corps paramilitaries" near the town of Mangochar "came under gunfire from 70 to 80 armed assailants who had blocked