India, March 14 -- Pakistani Army spokesperson on Friday confirmed that the number of fatalities in the train hijack in the mountainous southwestern region of Balochistan had risen to 31.

The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for hijacking the Jaffar Express on Tuesday, an attack during which they blew up train tracks and held passengers hostage in a tense day-long standoff with security forces in a remote mountain pass in Balochistan province.

"We have evidence that all the links to terrorism in Pakistan are traced back to Afghanistan," Reuters quoted Army spokesperson Major General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry telling a press conference in Islamabad.

General Chaudhry presented the complete figure of casualties, ...