The train hijacking in south-western Pakistan represents a major escalation in the region’s long-running insurgency.

A group of militants seized a Peshawar-bound train, igniting a 36-hour hostage crisis, but this attack is part of a decades-long insurgency rooted in the Baloch separatist groups' violent struggle for an independent state.

The BLA is one of the largest militant outfits demanding independence for Balochistan. It is designated as a terrorist group by Pakistan as well as the US.