Insurgents who attacked a passenger train carrying 440 passengers in restive southwestern Pakistan killed 21 hostages before

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.

Pakistani insurgents have attacked a passenger train carrying several hundred people and claimed to have taken more than 100 hostages

The separatist Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for attacking the train carrying 440 passengers in a tunnel in a remote part of Balochistan. Spokesman Jeeyand Baloch had said the group was ready to free passengers if authorities agree to release jailed militants.

Pakistan's military spokesman said on Friday the death toll in a train hijacking in the country's southwestern mountains had risen to 31 and he repeated accusations that neighbouring India and Afghanistan backed the militants who carried it out.