180 passengers, mostly soldiers, held hostage as Baloch Liberation Army hijack train in Pakistan
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) which seeks independence for Balochistan from Pakistan in a statement claimed responsibility for taking control of a train and keeping over 180 passengers, most of them Pakistani soldiers, hostages.
Several Pakistani military personnel were also killed, the BLA said.
The Jaffar Express, with over 450 passengers on board in nine bogies, was on its way from Quetta in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired on, railway officials told news agency Reuters.
"Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen," Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, told news agency AFP earlier.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch, the BLA said the hostages would be killed if Pakistani forces launched an operation.
"Any military incursion will be met with an equally forceful response. So far, six military personnel have been killed, and hundreds of passengers remain under BLA custody. The Baloch Liberation Army takes full responsibility for this operation," the BLA spokesperson said in the statement shared on social media.
The BLA fighters blew up the railway tracks and forced the train to stop inside a tunnel, after which they boarded it.
Security personnel were present on the train, and attackers exchanged gunfire after the attack.
Several ambulances have been rushed to the spot.
BLA and Balochistan:
Several insurgent groups, mostly by BLA, often target the Pakistani government, army, and Chinese interests in the region.
They claim the Pakistani government is unfairly exploiting the region's rich mineral and gas resources.
The region is home to one of the world's largest deep-sea ports in Gwadar.
It is considered crucial for the country's regional and global trade routes.
Balochistan has witnessed an uptick in terrorist attacks over the past year. In November 2024, at least 26 people were killed and 62 injured after a suicide blast ripped through a Quetta Railway Station, reported Dawn News.
Balochistan is considered to be strategically crucial since it shares international borders with Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the north.
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