Clashes Kill 41 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gun battles between paramilitary troops and militants in Pakistan’s troubled southwest killed at 41 people Sunday, including nine soldiers, the state-run news agency reported. The fighting in the province of Balochistan is not connected to an ongoing military offensive in the country’s northwest, which also has claimed dozens of lives. Balochistan is rich in natural gas, and insurgents there have been fighting Pakistani military forces for self-rule. For years, they have complained that the government has paid little attention to them and their economic needs. After militants in the province attacked a convoy of soldiers Saturday, security forces launched an offensive in the district of Dera Bugti, local media said.