ISLAMABAD, March 15, (AP): Pakistan’s military accused neighboring India on Friday of sponsoring insurgents in the restive southwest as more survivors recounted their ordeal from the unprecedented attack by armed separatists this week that killed 26 passengers aboard a hijacked train. The scope of the attack in Balochestan province underscored the struggles that Pakistan faces in efforts to reign in militant groups as attacks across the country escalated in recent years.

Accusing India and neighboring Afghanistan has been Islamabad's go-to strategy in the past. No evidence was offered for the latest accusation, which New Delhi promptly rejected. In the attack Tuesday, members of the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army ambushed a train in a remote area, took about 400 people onboard hostage and triggered a firefight with security forces.

The standoff lasted until late Wednesday, when the army said 33 hijackers were killed. Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province. Ethnic Baloch residents have long accused the central government of discrimination - a charge Islamabad denies. The attack has drawn condemnation from the international community, including the United States, China, Turkey, Iran and Britain.

On Friday, the members of the UN. Security Council "condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” on the train in Balochistan. "The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,” the council said in a statement.

At a news conference in Islamabad, army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif said Friday that "in this terrorist incident in Balochistan, and others before, the main sponsor is your eastern neighbor,” referring to India. He offered no proof. It was the first time the BLA - which has been fighting for more autonomy if not outright independence and a greater share of the province’s resources - had hijacked a train, although it had attacked trains before. Some assailants escaped, and a search operation was underway to find them, Sharif said.