QUETTA: Militants have taken 35 passengers hostage after attacking a train in Balochistan, and nearly 350 other passengers are believed to be safe, local police said on Tuesday. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said they had 182 hostages in total and threatened to kill them if security forces did not leave the area.
The train was trapped in a tunnel and the driver was badly wounded, local authorities, police and railway officials said.
“Around 350 passengers, including women and children are safe and a relief train will be reaching the area where the train was attacked,” said a district senior police officer, Rana Dilawar.
“Security forces launched a massive operation,” he said, adding that helicopters and special forces had been deployed.
Security forces said an explosion had been heard near the tunnel and that they were exchanging fire with the militants in a mountainous area.
EXECUTIONS THREATENED
“Civilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly, and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and given a secure route,” it said in a statement emailed to journalists and posted on Telegram.
“The BLA further warns that if military intervention continues, all hostages will be executed.”
The Jaffar Express had been on its way from Quetta to the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when it was fired on.
Interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers”.
The Balochistan government has imposed emergency measures to deal with the situation, spokesperson Shahid Rind said, without giving more details.
The BLA is the biggest of several ethnic groups battling the government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
The conflict has seen frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region.—Reuters
NNI adds: Despite the fact that the crime scene is away from the main road and is located in a difficult terrain, security forces have started the clearance operation. Women and children are also among the hostages.
Sources say that militants are in contact with the attack masterminds in Afghanistan. They said that militants have nothing to do with Islam, Pakistan or Balochistan as they targeted innocent people.
Sources say that Indian media and their aligned social media accounts are running an organized propaganda campaign since the news of the militant attack on the train broke out. Old videos, AI-generated videos, old photos and fake WhatsApp messages and posters are being spread to create confusion in the country.
Social media accounts linked to militant groups are also spreading fake information. Indian channels are showing analyses by so-called Baloch leaders sitting out of Pakistan. Sources advised Pakistani people to look for news reports from credible sources instead of social media accounts involved in propaganda campaigns.
Militants held 450 passengers hostage after several were reported injured following gun attack on the Jaffar Express near Ab Gham in the Machh area of Bolan in Balochistan on Tuesday.
Terrorists blew up the rail track and opened indiscriminate firing on the train before taking hundreds hostage.
Sources said that around six terrorists opened fire on the train, causing panic among the passengers with several individuals including the driver of train were injured due to the gunfire.
The driver of Jaffar Express, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, received serious injuries. Soon after receiving the report of the incident heavy contingents of law-enforcement agencies rushed to the area.
Local administration also imposed emergencies in all the hospitals of Quetta and Sibi as a number of blasts were also heard from the attack site.
Commenting on reports of intense firing at Jaffar Express, heading from Quetta to Peshawar, spokesman for the Balochistan government Shahid Rind has said that ambulances, security forces personnel and a train have been dispatched to the site of the incident.
He, however, has said that there are difficulties in accessing the area due to the mountainous terrain.
The spokesman has informed that an emergency has been imposed at Sibbi Hospital. “We are looking at the incident from different angles, and the possibility of a terror act cannot be ruled out,” he has added.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack on Jaffar Express, calling it a cowardly act of terrorism. He vowed that the attackers would face a dire fate. “Those who spill innocent blood will find no place on this earth. We will eliminate every last terrorist,” he declared.
Issuing a strong warning, CM Bugti said, “Let the enemy hear this loud and clear—anyone challenging the state’s authority in Balochistan will be wiped out. An attack on the state is intolerable, and we will hunt down these killers one by one. The public should not be afraid; we will not rest until the last enemy is eliminated.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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