• Dozens of people have been killed in multiple clashes with militants in Balochistan, Pakistan, with at least 54 terrorists killed in response to the attacks.
• Four civilians were killed in the first attack in Quetta, nine policemen and 18 hostages were killed in a subsequent attack, and at least 11 soldiers were killed in an ambush by the Balochistan Liberation Army.
• Operations against the BLA and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are ongoing in Balochistan, which has seen a recent increase in violence by Islamist militants and ethnic Baloch rebels.

Pakistan's military said on Wednesday that dozens of people had been killed in multiple clashes with militants in the south-western province of Balochistan.

Army spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told reporters that there had been three major terrorist incidents in the past four days.

In response to the attacks, at least 54 terrorists had been killed so far, he said.

Chaudhry said that four civilians were killed during the first attack in the outskirts of the provincial capital Quetta. On Tuesday, nine policemen were killed and another 18 people who were taken hostage were killed. Then at least 11 soldiers were killed on Wednesday when an army convoy was ambushed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group fighting for independence.

The spokesman said that operations against the BLA and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, were under way.

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province, bordering both Afghanistan and Iran. The region has borne the brunt of a recent increase in violence by Islamist militants and ethnic Baloch rebels fighting for independence.