Pakistan military ends train standoff, says 21 hostages and four troops killed

Passengers who were rescued from a train after it was attacked by separatist militants, walk with their belongings at the Railway Station in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, March 12, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

QUETTA (Reuters) -Pakistani security forces stormed a train on Wednesday that had been hijacked by separatist militants, killing all 33 attackers and ending a day-long standoff involving hundreds of hostages, the military said.

Separatist Baloch militants on Tuesday blew up the railway track and hurled rockets at the Jaffar Express when it was on its way to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Balochistan's capital of Quetta, carrying 440 people.