'Drank toilet water': Pakistan hostages recount harrowing train hijacking ordeal
What's the story
Survivors of the recent train hijacking in Pakistan's southwest have recounted their harrowing experiences.
On Tuesday, separatist militants attacked the Jaffar Express train at Bolan Pass in Balochistan.
They bombed a section of a railway track and barged into the train with over 450 passengers.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) later claimed responsibility for the gruesome attack.
Survivor accounts
Survivors recount ordeal of being separated and tortured
Rescued passenger Muhammad Tanveer recounted the horrific experience to Reuters.
He said the train was first shelled, and then for the next three hours they kept firing.
"They forced us off the train and made us separate by caste - Saraiki, Punjabi, Balochi, Pathan," he said.
"They tortured the Punjabis the most."
Tanveer said they survived on water for two days after their last meal at sunrise due to Ramadan fasting.
Attack details
Armed men stormed train, opened fire on passengers
Another survivor, Arslan Yousaf, shed more light on the attack.
He said as soon as the blast happened, armed men charged into the train and started firing at people.
"They had launchers, guns, and other weapons," he said. "They kept shouting, 'We will kill anyone who doesn't come out.'"
Yousaf also recounted how they were segregated according to their identities - Punjabis, Baloch - and attacked separately or in groups.
Operation outcome
Military spokesperson confirms no civilian deaths in rescue operation
A military spokesperson confirmed the deaths of 21 civilians and four security personnel in the 30-hour siege.
However, she denied that any civilian was killed in the final stage of the operation.
The military freed "a large number of people," she said.
The BLA had threatened to begin executing hostages if authorities failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to release Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing people who it said had been kidnapped by the military.