Mehboob Hussain was riding the train home on Tuesday when the tracks under the front car exploded. In the depths of central Pakistan's Bolan Pass, a pocket of wilderness so remote that there is no internet or mobile network coverage, the nine-coach Jaffar Express ground to a halt. Then the bullets started flying.

After more than a day of fighting with separatist militants who hijacked a train carrying hundreds of passengers, Pakistan’s army said it had brought the insurgent attack to an end, but that 21 passengers and four paramilitary personnel had been killed.

The train carrying 440 passengers was traveling through the southwestern area of the country. I guess this was inevitable. The president received an awkward reminder, right to his face. The man said he was locked in an eight-by-nine-foot room and was fed two sandwiches a day with two cups of water for years,