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.

At least 16 terrorists were killed and 104 passengers rescued by the security forces after Baloch militants hijacked a passenger train in a tunnel in Pakistan's Balochistan province on March 11, reports said.

The separatist Baloch Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday in a tunnel in Bolan, a district in restive Balochistan province.