All train passengers that are held hostage by rebels in southwestern Pakistan have been released, an army officer told AFP on Wednesday, adding that 28 soldiers were killed in the siege.
“346 hostages were released and more than 30 terrorists were killed during the operation,” an army officer told AFP, adding that 27 Off-Duty soldiers who were passengers were killed by militants and one soldier during the operation.
More than 450 passengers were on board when a rebel group won the train on Tuesday afternoon in a remote border district of the province of Balochistan.
The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which released a video of an explosion on the track, followed by dozens of armed men who came out of hiding places in the mountains and stormed the carriages.
De BLA has increased a series of recent attacks on security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province that they accuse to benefit from the wealth of the region.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)