The attacks were the work of a separatist group called the Baluch Liberation Army (BLA), which claimed responsibility. It started with bombings and gunfire targeting a national military camp in Pakistan's Baluchistan Province, which left at least one soldier dead.

In the same area, gunmen stormed four police stations, setting vehicles on fire. By morning, a key bridge in the area was also attacked and destroyed. But the situation escalated when militants attacked a major highway in a town called Bela. They intercepted traffic and then proceeded to execute people, reports say.

Several groups of BLA gunmen went on a rampage, and other motorways were targeted as well, seemingly at random, though authorities say in some instances the attackers were seeking to kill individuals of specific ethnic groups.

"Vehicles travelling to and from Punjab were inspected, and individuals from Punjab were identified and shot," a regional report indicates.

Many of the reported dead are the militants themselves, amid a heavy police and military response. A list of some of the major attacks are as follows:

The country's military said 14 soldiers and police, as well as 21 militants, were killed in fighting after the largest of the attacks, which targeted vehicles on a major highway in Bela, a town in Lasbela district.

In a separate attack in Musakhel district, local officials said at least 23 civilians were killed after attackers determined they were from Punjab, with 35 vehicles set ablaze.

And in Kalat, 10 people were reported to have been killed – five police and five civilians – after a police post and a highway were attacked.

In some places, the dead and wounded are still being accounted for, with recovered bodies being examined for identification.