Pakistan says 42 security personnel killed in Balochistan attacks

Pakistan's military said that 42 police ​and army ​personnel have been ⁠killed ​in three ​militant attacks in the troubled ​southwestern ​province of Balochistan since ‌July ⁠6, Reuters reports.

A total of 54 ​militants ​were ⁠killed in these ​incidents, ​the ⁠military added.

Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency for years in Balochistan, where militants target state forces and foreign investment and infrastructure projects in the mineral-rich province that borders Afghanistan and Iran.

Provincial and district officials said that gunmen had stormed a checkpoint guarding the Mangi dam project, killing nine police officers and leaving more missing.

The latest violence is part of intensifying militant attacks in Pakistan's border regions, which Islamabad says emanate from Afghanistan. Authorities in Kabul have repeatedly denied any involvement.

Pakistan has launched airstrikes on Afghan territory in recent months that it says targets militants but that Taliban government officials and the United Nations say have killed dozens of civilians. 

By Vafa Guliyeva