The train hijacking in south-western Pakistan represents a major escalation in the region’s long-running insurgency.

Hostages freed after a day-long ordeal following a BLA militant attack on a Pakistan train recalled crouching on the floor for hours before their release.

Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan also claimed that intelligence reports indicated the Baloch terrorists, behind the hijack, were in contact with their associates in Afghanistan

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.