Mehboob Hussain was riding the train home on Tuesday when the tracks under the front car exploded. In the depths of central Pakistan's Bolan Pass, a pocket of wilderness so remote that there is no internet or mobile network coverage, the nine-coach Jaffar Express ground to a halt. Then the bullets started flying.

Twenty-one passengers and four paramilitary soldiers were killed by militants holding hostages after seizing control of a train in Balochistan, an army general said on Wednesday, 12 March. Army spokesman Lt general Ahmad Sharif told Dunya News TV that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene.

At least 16 militants have been killed and 100 passengers were freed as of Wednesday morning, local media reported. The BBC has not been able to independently verify those figures. Among those released are 17 injured passengers, who have been admitted to hospital for treatment.

A security force personnel member stands guard near a train containing empty coffins that are dispatched to Bolan where a passenger train that was attacked by separatist militants, at a railway station in Quetta,

The Pakistani government, facing a widening security crisis in the country’s restive southwest, has given little indication it intends to negotiate with the militants.

Police say at least three people were injured in the attack and it is unclear how many people are being held hostage.

Pakistani security forces are carrying out a rescue operation to free dozens of passengers taken hostage by separatist militants who hijacked their train in the southwest of the country on Tuesday. Here is a look at what happened,

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Balochistan province on Thursday, as dozens of people rescued from a train hijacked by separatist militants arrived in Quetta after security forces killed 33 attackers to end a day-long standoff.