Pakistani soldiers were yesterday hunting down separatist militants who stormed schools, banks, and security installations, killing nearly 50 people, in a series of coordinated attacks across southwestern Balochistan province, the military said.

The attacks at the weekend brought Pakistan’s largest province to a near standstill as the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) struck nearly a dozen targets in one of their largest ever operations, killing 17 security officials and 31 civilians.

Pakistan’s military has killed 177 BLA fighters in three days of fighting, the interior ministry said yesterday.

Pakistan’s government and military have said the group has received support from India, threatening to escalate hostilities between the nuclear-powered neighbours who engaged in their worst armed conflict in decades in May.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said 22 more militants had been killed overnight in different areas of Balochistan, taking the total to 177.

“Security forces, police and intelligence agencies thwarted the nefarious intentions of terrorists by taking timely and effective action,” Naqvi said in a statement.