Terrorists in explosive vests have reportedly threatened Pakistan train passengers' lives if officials refuse to release imprisoned militants.

Separatist militants killed at least 10 people after hijacking a train carrying hundreds of passengers in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan on Tuesday, according to government and railway officials.

At least 16 militants were killed as security forces launched a counter-operation, officials said. The number of civilian casualties was not clear but at least 10 people, including the train driver and security personnel, were reported dead. Several passengers sustained injuries in the attack.

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 (AP) — Pakistani security forces exchanged gunfire on Wednesday with hundreds of separatist militants as they sought to free about 300 hostages aboard a train in the country’s rugged southwest, officials said.

Pakistan's military spokesman said on Friday the death toll in a train hijacking in the country's southwestern mountains had risen to 31 and he repeated accusations that neighbouring India and Afghanistan backed the militants who carried it out.

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

The scope of the attack underscored the struggles Pakistan faces in efforts to reign in militant groups as attacks across the country surged in recent years. Accusing India and neighboring Afghanistan has been Pakistan's go-to strategy in the past.

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.