QUETTA — Pakistani security forces killed 145 militants in a 40-hour battle launched as a series of coordinated gun and bomb attacks across Balochistan left nearly 50 people dead, the province's chief minister said on Sunday (Feb 1).

Authorities in the southwestern province are battling one of the deadliest flare-ups in years, as insurgents in the resource-rich province bordering Iran and Afghanistan step up assaults on security forces, civilians and infrastructure.