Pakistani security forces stormed a train on Wednesday that had been hijacked by separatist militants, killing all 33 attackers and ending a day-long standoff involving hundreds of hostages, the military said.

Separatist Baloch militants on Tuesday blew up the railway track and hurled rockets at the Jaffar Express when it was on its way to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Balochistan’s capital of Quetta, carrying 440 people.

The military said 21 hostages and four security troops were killed over the course of the standoff.

“Today we freed a large number of people, including women and children … The final operation was carried out with great care,” military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, adding that no civilians were killed in the final stage of the operation.

Before the army announcement, the Baloch Liberation Army, which claimed the attack, said it had killed 50 passengers on Wednesday evening.

It had said on Tuesday that it was holding 214 people, mostly security personnel. It had threatened to start executing hostages unless authorities met its 48-hour deadline for the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing people it says had been abducted by the military.

The BLA is the largest of several ethnic armed groups battling the government in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

The militants have in recent months stepped up their activities using new tactics to inflict high death and injury tolls and target Pakistan’s military.

Baloch militant groups say they have been fighting for a larger share in the regional wealth of mines and minerals denied by the central government.

Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry told Geo television earlier on Wednesday that militants were wearing suicide vests as they sat among the passengers held hostage, complicating the rescue attempt.

He said 70-80 attackers had hijacked the train.

The military sent in hundreds of troops and also deployed the airforce and special forces to tackle the militants, Chaudhry said.

In the final phase of the operation, he said special forces first took out the suicide bombers before troops went from carriage to carriage to kill the rest of the militants. He did not give a number of those rescued in this phase of the operation and it was not immediately clear how or to where the passengers would be evacuated.

The train driver and several others had already been killed, officials said earlier, before the army statement.

Government officials had said earlier, also before the army statement, that 190 of those on board had already been rescued, with more than 50 taken to Quetta to be reunited with their loved ones.

Muhammad Ashraf, 75, who was travelling on the train, said he heard a loud explosion in the mountainous area, which shook all the carriages.

“We lay on the floor once heavy firing started. Shortly after, armed men entered the train and checked our identities,” he said in Quetta.

A security official had told Reuters that the armed men were looking for soldiers and security personnel.

A woman, who said her son was among the passengers still waiting to be freed, confronted provincial minister Mir Zahoor Buledi. “Why didn’t you stop the trains if they were not safe?” she said.

Buledi told reporters the government was working to beef up security in the region.

Separatist militants blew up a railway track and opened fire on a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, taking dozens of hostages and battling security forces conducting a rescue operation, police and the insurgents said.

Police have not specified how many passengers were taken hostage in the remote mountainous area but the insurgents said they were holding 214 people, and have threatened to start executing them, Reuters reported.

“The affected train is still on the spot and the armed men are holding passengers,” senior district police officer Rana Dilawar said.

“Security forces launched a massive operation,” he said, adding that helicopters and special forces had been deployed.

The train was trapped in a tunnel and the driver was killed after sustaining serious injuries, local authorities, police and railway officials said.

The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist militant group, said it blew up the tracks and “swiftly took control of the train”. The group said it would execute 10 people in response to the ongoing military operation.

The BLA has demanded the release within 48 hours of Baloch political prisoners, activists and missing persons it said had been abducted by the military, read the report.

“BLA is prepared for a prisoner exchange,” the group said.

“If our demands are not met within the stipulated period or if the occupying state attempts any military action during this time all prisoners of war will be neutralized and the train will be completely destroyed.”

The group, which seeks independence for Balochistan province bordering both Afghanistan and Iran, said the hostages included Pakistan Army members and other security officials travelling on leave.

Dilawar said some of the militants had taken a group of around 35 hostages into the mountains while others were still holding the locomotive. He had previously said that over 300 hostages were safe but security officials have since announced that 104 people have been rescued so far, Reuters reported.

Security forces said an explosion had been heard near the tunnel and that they were exchanging fire with the militants in a mountainous area.

A security source who asked not to be identified said many people had lost their lives in the attack, adding that 80 military personnel were among the 425 passengers aboard the train.

Another security source said 104 passengers had been rescued, 17 wounded taken to hospital and 16 militants had been killed, adding the rest were surrounded.

“The operation will continue until the last terrorist is eliminated,” they said.

The BLA said it has not suffered any casualties. It said it had killed 30 soldiers and shot down a drone. There was no confirmation of that from Pakistani authorities.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying security officials were “repelling” the militants.

“Civilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly, and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and given a secure route,” the BLA said in a statement emailed to journalists and posted on Telegram.

“The BLA further warns that if military intervention continues, all hostages will be executed.”

The Jaffar Express had been on its way from Balochistan’s capital, Quetta, to the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when it was fired on.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and praised the military for rescuing more than 100 passengers.

“Those who attack innocent passengers are enemies of the country,” he said.

“Enemy forces are conspiring to create instability in the country through terrorism in Balochistan.”

The Balochistan government has imposed emergency measures to deal with the situation, spokesperson Shahid Rind said, without giving any more details.

The BLA is the biggest of several groups that have been battling the government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources, read the report.

The conflict has seen frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region.

The Kremlin, asked on Monday if Russia had held consultations with Iran before or after Tehran responded to a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump urging the country to negotiate a nuclear deal, said Iran formulates its own policy positions.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear deal.

Asked if Moscow had consulted with Tehran before or after Trump’s letter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:

“No. Iran is a sovereign country and independently formulates its position on key foreign policy issues. It is clear that very tense contacts are ahead.”

Trump has previously said he would reimpose a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, aimed at preventing the country from building nuclear weapons, even as he has signalled openness to a new nuclear accord with Tehran.

Russia and Iran have drawn closer since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Tehran providing Moscow with drones.

Regarding possible talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, Peskov said: “It is clear that Iran is seeking negotiations based on mutual respect, constructive negotiations.”

“We, of course, for our part, will continue to do everything that depends on us, everything that is possible, in order to bring this process of settling the Iranian nuclear dossier into a peaceful direction.”