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, officials said Saturday. The military said troops suffered casualties when they engaged the insurgents who erected barricades on a key highway in Kalat, bordering Afghanistan. The security forces “successfully removed the roadblock” following the fighting overnight into Saturday morning, the military said in a statement. Story continues below this ad It said 18 security personnel died during the operation and vowed that “the perpetrators, facilitators and abettors of this heinous and cowardly act, will be brought to justice.” Security forces recovered the bodies of 12 insurgents, the military said. Troops also killed another 11 insurgents in an operation that was still underway, it said. Pakistan’s civil and military security forces in 2024 witnessed a 40% surge in militant attacks by all groups, compared to 2023. However, in December the military insisted that security forces killed 925 insurgents in 2024, a record …