Pakistani forces said Wednesday that 21 hostages were killed on a train hijacked by separatist militants from the Baroque Liberation Army (BLA). The BLA claimed it killed 50 people when it was held responsible for the terrorist attack.
“Today we have released many people, including women and children. The final operation was meticulous.” I said Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director of ISPR, Public Relations Division of Pakistan Army.
The train, known as the Jafar Express, approached a tunnel in southwestern Balochistan on Tuesday, causing 440 people to be hijacked. Chaudhry said that most of the passengers are women and children.
The train was tied down to Peshawar from Quetta, a journey of about 1,000 miles. Heavyly armed extremists wearing suicide vests, some have blown up trucks and locked them inside tunnels to stop the train.
Passengers said the attacker also hit the engine with rocket propulsion allowance (RPG). The train driver said he and his crew threw themselves on the engine floor during the attack and stayed here for 27 hours.
The attacker won a fierce gun battle with security guards on the train, forcing passengers to disembark. Some passengers were told to leave, while others were kept hostages. The attackers demanded many concessions, including the release of Baroque prisoners within 48 hours.
Chaudhry said 21 of those hostages were killed when security forces stormed the train for a “final permit” operation.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif and his government have condemned the attack on the train. Chaudhry vowed that the perpetrator was “crowded and put to trial.”
“The Jaffar Express incident changes the rules of the game,” he vowed.
The game is nothing new. The Baroque Separatists are Voyage For decades, the rebel campaign had bolstered their attacks when it felt like China had a lot of investment in gold and copper mines in the region. The BLA is also framed many of its attacks in response to Pakistan's military operations in Balochistan.
Baroque is a Nomads It can be found in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Many of them feel that their respective governments have treated them unfairly and long-term independence.
Balochistan is the largest and most densely populated state of Pakistan. Quetta, the origin of the trains hijacked on Tuesday, is Balochistan's capital. Before the train hijacking, one of the most infamous recent acts in the BLA is bombing Quetta station in November 2024.
Thursday's BLA I took responsibility Due to the attack on the train, however, it challenged many other aspects of the ISPR account, including the claim that Pakistani forces currently manage the train.
“The reality on earth is that the battle continues in multiple ways, and the enemy suffers from serious injuries and military losses. The occupying forces have not achieved victory on the battlefield or were unable to save hostage personnel,” the BLA claimed.
Separatist extremists also said they had suffered far more casualties than the four that the Pakistani military admitted, with Pakistanis refusing to negotiate prisoner exchanges and Pakistanis beginning to kill Baroque civilians in rage of frustration over the situation on the train.
“If the occupying forces are truly claiming victory, then independent journalists and impartial sources need to grant access to war-torn areas and allow Pakistani forces to witness the true losses they have suffered,” the BLA said.
Prime Minister Sharif visited the state in Balochistan on Thursday, I said The separatists' “co-infectious behavior” “does not shake Pakistan's resolve to peace.”
