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.

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,

Baloch separatist militants blew up a railway track and launched rockets at the Jaffar Express, which was carrying over 400 passengers.

Separatist militants fired at a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, injuring a train driver, police and railway officials said.

Pakistan freed 190 hijacked train passengers held hostage Wednesday as the battle to free remaining hostages held by the militant group Baloch Liberation Army continued.

Hostages freed after a day-long ordeal following an attack by militants on a train in Pakistan's Balochistan province described crouching on the floor for hours before their release, as the bodies of 25 people killed arrived in Quetta.

Pakistan’s prime minister on Thursday commended the country’s armed forces for successfully rescuing 339 passengers after a deadly train hijacking by insurgents in the southwest. A

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.

The driver of Jaffar Express, which was hijacked by Balochistan Liberation Army militants, has described the terrifying moment when the insurgents attacked the train as survivors praised the military for their rescue.