Pakistan: security forces try to free passengers from train siege

Pakistan has launched a "full-scale" operation to rescue train passengers taken hostage by militants in the mountainous southwest of the country.

Security forces say they have managed to free more than 150 hostages from the besieged train in the Balochistan region, with an unknown number still on board.

A senior railway official told AFP that more than 450 people had been on board the Jafar Express train.