Pakistan’s military have been engaged in a deadly standoff for more than 24 hours with armed militants who hijacked a train and took hostages, in a dramatic escalation of an insurgency that has plagued the region for decades.

The Jaffar Express, with roughly 450 people on board, was traveling north from Quetta, Balochistan, to Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when it came under a bomb and gun attack Tuesday

Over a hundred train passengers were rescued after being taken hostage by armed insurgents in Pakistan's restive Balochistan region, security forces said on Wednesday. The Jafar Express train was attacked by Baloch insurgents while passing through mountainous terrain on Tuesday.