All hostages freed after 30-hour Pak train siege

More than 340 train passengers taken hostage by a militant group were freed late on Wednesday by security forces after a 30-hour siege, an army official told AFP, confirming that 27 off-duty soldiers were shot by militants.

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The military's spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said 21 hostages and all 33 insurgents had been killed. He said 440 people had been on board. “Today we freed a large number of people, including women and children ... The final operation was carried out with great care,” Chaudhry said, adding that no civilians were killed in the operation. He said the security forces had cleared the train “bogey to bogey.”

“The terrorists used hostages, including women and children, as human shields. The recovery operation was immediately started,” he said.

Chaudhry added that no passenger was hurt in the final clearance operation, but before that, “the number of passengers who fell victim to the barbarism of the terrorists is 21.”

Pakistan security forces launched a rescue mission on Tuesday afternoon after a separatist group bombed a railway track in mountainous southwest Balochistan and stormed a train with around 450 passengers on board.