Separatist militants killed 21 hostages and four security forces personnel as the hijacking of a passenger train in south-west Pakistan ended in bloodshed.

All 33 hijackers were also killed in the operation, said Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan military, in a televised interview.

Lt Gen Chaudhry said the hijackers used hostages, including women and children, as human shields.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a militant group seeking independence for Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, hijacked the Jaffar Express on Tuesday afternoon, seizing control of the train.

It had 440 passengers on board and was travelling from Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar when it was stopped near the Mashkaf Tunnel in Bolan district of Balochistan.

The attackers detonated explosives on the railway track to stop the train before taking the passengers hostage, Lt Gen Chaudhry said.