Pakistani troops fought separatist insurgents who set up roadblocks in the restive northwestern region of Balochistan, leaving 18 paramilitary security forces and 23 rebels dead in some of the heaviest clashes in recent years,

At least 18 soldiers of Pakistan's Frontier Corps (FC) have died during an operation in Mangocher, a city located in the Kalat district of Balochistan province, the country's military authorities confirmed on Saturday.

The incident occurred in the Mangochar area of Kalat district of the province on the night of January 31 and February 1 when terrorists attempted to establish roadblocks, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR),

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