Pakistan security sources said Wednesday they had freed 155 hostages from around 450 passengers while killing 27 militants as a Pakistan train siege in restive Balochistan province entered a second day.
"Security forces have safely rescued 155 passengers... 27 terrorists have been eliminated," a security source said, adding the operation was still "ongoing".
What do we know about the Jafar Express train attack?
Militants waging a war of independence against the Pakistani state set off explosions on the railway track in a remote area of Balochistan, before firing on the train and forcing it to stop. The insurgents took more than 450 people hostage in the process.
The Jafar Express was on its way from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, to Peshawar in the north of the country on a 30-hour journey.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack which took place around 1:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) in a deserted area in the region of Bolan/Kachhi.
Authorities have yet to specify how many passengers were taken hostage but the insurgents said they were holding 214 people, and had threatened to start executing them.
It wasn't clear how many insurgents or security forces had been killed, but DPA cited security sources as saying: "A full-scale military operation is underway in which 27 terrorists have been killed."
Helicopters and special forces were deployed as part of the operation.
There were also reports that the militants had forced hostages to sit close to people wearing suicide vests.
"Militants were using the passengers as shields and they have placed suicide bombers wearing explosive vests dangerously close to the hostages," a security official told DPA off the record.
