Hostages freed after a day-long ordeal following a BLA militant attack on a Pakistan train recalled crouching on the floor for hours before their release.

The train hijacking in south-western Pakistan represents a major escalation in the region’s long-running insurgency.

The death toll from a militant hijacking of a train in Pakistan's southwestern mountains has risen to 31 soldiers, staff and civilians, the military said on Friday as it accused India and Afghanistan of backing the insurgents.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s neglected southwestern province of Balochistan has been the scene of a yearslong insurgency, with a dramatic uptick in attacks in recent years underscoring the struggles the government in Islamabad faces in dealing with myriad security threats.

Pakistani officials say insurgents who attacked a passenger train carrying 440 people in the southwest killed 21 hostages but security forces rescued the others.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military accused neighboring India on Friday of sponsoring insurgents in a restive southwestern province, where an unprecedented attack by armed separatists this week killed 26 passengers aboard a hijacked train.

Train hijackers in Pakistan’s Balochistan province killed a total of 31 security personnel and civilians before they were neutralised, according to Pakistan Army

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military and Balochistan provincial leadership on Friday accused India of orchestrating terrorism in the restive southwestern province, a day after the PM Shehbaz Sharif-led govt levelled similar allegations against New Delhi.