Militants hold 450 train passengers hostage in SW Pakistan

QUETTA, Mar 11 (AFP): Armed militants held hundreds of train passengers hostage on Tuesday in an ongoing siege claimed by a separatist group behind rising violence in southwestern Pakistan.

The militants wounded the driver as they took control of the train in a remote, mountainous area of Balochistan province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

"Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen," Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told AFP.

"Passengers include women and children," he added.

The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) which is fighting for independence and accuses outsiders of profiting from the region's wealth.

In a statement, it said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train. "The militants swiftly took control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage," said the statement released to media.