Pakistan’s military says at least 346 hostages have been freed from a passenger train that was hijacked by separatist fighters in Balochistan province.

A military spokesperson said the rescue operation had concluded on Wednesday and that all 33 attackers were killed.

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At least 27 hostages and one paramilitary soldier were killed, security sources told Al Jazeera.

Fighters belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Jaffar Express, the train was travelling from Quetta, the provincial capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when it was attacked. It was carrying nearly 400 passengers and was targeted while passing through tunnels near Sibi city, about 160km (100 miles) from Quetta.

Balochistan has been struggling with a lack of security for decades. The region is home to several armed groups, including the BLA. Since 2006, the group has been banned by both Pakistan and the US, which designates it as a “terrorist” organisation.

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“The army has been very active [here], last year alone it killed 225 people … So there will be question marks as to whether there was adequate security on board that train, given the security risk,” said Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Quetta.

“People would like to have more security on those trains because they feel unsafe and they have voiced their concerns,” Hyder said.

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province, home to around 15 million people, but despite its vast resources, it remains widely underdeveloped. Baloch people make up 3.6 percent of Pakistan’s population, 2 percent of Iran and 2 percent of Afghanistan.

Baloch separatists have repeatedly attacked the Jaffar Express in the last few years. It is commonly used by security personnel, mostly from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The last major attack on the train took place in November when a suicide bomber detonated himself at the Quetta railway station as it prepared to depart.

The BLA took responsibility for that attack, in which at least 30 people were killed.

In August 2024, attackers blew up part of a track in Balochistan, resulting in the suspension of the Jaffar Express for two months before services resumed in October. In January last year, separatists exploded another bomb on the train’s route near the Bolan area, injuring at least 13 people.

Yet, this is the first time that Baloch fighters – or any armed group – have hijacked an entire train in Pakistan.