Security forces said they freed more than 340 passengers in a two-day rescue operation that ended late on Wednesday after a separatist group bombed a remote track in mountainous southwest Balochistan and stormed a train with around 450 passengers on board.
The assault was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of a number of separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering natural resources in Balochistan near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
Death tolls have varied, with the military saying that “21 innocent hostages” were killed as well as four soldiers.
A railway official said the bodies of the 25 people were transported by train away from the site of the siege to the nearby town of Mach on Thursday.
” The deceased were identified as 19 military passengers, one police and one railway official, while four bodies are yet to be identified,” the official said.
Passengers who escaped said after walking for hours through rugged mountains to reach safety that they saw people being shot dead by militants.
The first funerals are expected to take place on Thursday.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was also expected to visit Balochistan, his office said. (AFP)
