Pakistan’s prime minister traveled to restive southwestern Balochistan province to meet survivors of a train attack and the commandos who rescued over 300 passengers from the insurgents who killed 21 civilians and four troops.

Karachi/Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday visited Balochistan, where he reviewed the law and order situation and expressed solidarity with the people following the Jaffar Express hijacking incident in which 21 civilians and four soldiers were killed.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s neglected southwestern province of Balochistan has been the scene of a yearslong insurgency, with a dramatic uptick in attacks in recent years underscoring the struggles the government in Islamabad faces in dealing with myriad security threats.

Balochistan's long-standing insurgency reached a new level, with the Baluch Liberation Army seizing a passenger train. The militants killed 21 passeng

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.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the media following a train attack in Balochistan on Tuesday. Insurgents targeted the Jaffar Express, which was carrying 440 passengers, using explosives to derail the train.

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.

Baloch Liberation Army militants killed 21 hostages during a train hijacking in Pakistan. Security forces later eliminated all attackers.