The separatist Baloch Liberation Army, which claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack, released a statement saying its fighters had escaped with 214 hostages and since executed all of them, without giving any evidence to back that up.

Pakistani officials say insurgents who attacked a passenger train carrying 440 people in the southwest killed 21 hostages but security forces rescued the others.

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.

Twenty-one passengers were killed after a train in Pakistan was attacked and hundreds were taken hostage on Tuesday, according to the Pakistani military.

Pakistan's army says it has freed more than 300 hostages from a passenger train seized by militants in Balochistan province on Tuesday. The military spokesperson said 33 militants were killed during the operation.

Pakistan authorities announced the elimination of 33 militants who attacked a passenger train and the rescue of all remaining hostages, reports AP News. Armed fighters from the separatist group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked the Jafer Express train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar.