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, the nine-coach Jaffar Express ground to a halt. Then the bullets started flying.

The bodies of at least 25 people, including 21 hostages, killed in a train siege by separatist gunmen in Pakistan were retrieved from the site ahead of the first funerals, officials said.

The Balochistan Liberation Army claims it killed 6 security forces and seized a Pakistani passenger train carrying about 500 people in a remote, mountainous region.

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - 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 militants, Baloch ethnic fighters, said they would kill dozens of seized security personnel if the Pakistani government did not agree to a prisoner exchange.

Authorities in Pakistan have sent the last remaining civilian survivors of a hijacked train to Quetta under heavy security.

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

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.