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A militant separatist group operating in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has claimed responsibility for taking 214 hostages, including military personnel, after seizing a train in a dramatic operation amid escalating security challenges in the nation.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) reportedly detonated explosives to obstruct the tracks and opened fire on the Jaffar Express, which was making its way through a mountainous region on its journey from Quetta in Balochistan to Peshawar in the adjacent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon, with approximately 400 passengers on board. Once the train was immobilized within the tunnel, local officials noted that the train’s driver sustained serious injuries, while they did not corroborate the BLA’s claims of hostages.
Claiming to have killed 30 military personnel, the BLA described those taken captive as “prisoners of war” and stated that all civilians had been allowed to leave the train unharmed. However, the provincial government contested the presence of any military personnel on the train. Nevertheless, sources speaking anonymously reported to the Guardian that over 150 security officers were indeed on board.
As Tuesday evening unfolded, the BLA maintained control over the train and hostages, announcing that it was engaged in ongoing confrontations with the Pakistani military and air force. The group issued a stark warning: any military action could lead to the execution of hostages.
In exchange for the safe return of the captives, the BLA proposed a prisoner swap and set a 48-hour deadline for the government to release Baloch political prisoners and others who have been forcibly disappeared. Failure to comply would result in harm to the hostages and the destruction of the train, according to the BLA.
A railway official indicated that there had been no communication with the crew of the train since the attack, and confirmed the driver’s severe injuries. Efforts to assist with evacuations have been complicated by difficult terrain and limited communication networks, although additional trains have been dispatched to assist.
Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, stated, “The scale of the incident and the possibility of terrorist elements are under investigation,” adding that emergency protocols have been activated to address the crisis.
In response to the violence, Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, expressed strong condemnation, asserting that those targeting innocent civilians should receive no leniency.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest yet one of its most impoverished provinces, has been a hotbed for separatist violence for decades. Historically marginalized by successive governments, the region, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, has endured a brutal counter-insurgency campaign that has resulted in significant loss of life and numerous disappearances.
Recent trends show a resurgence of militancy, particularly since the Taliban regained control in Afghanistan, exacerbating instability in Balochistan. The BLA’s numbers have reportedly increased, with militants often manning checkpoints and disrupting transport routes across the province.
The group has been implicated in several notorious attacks in recent years, including the killing of seven Punjabi travellers earlier this year and a bombing in Quetta’s main railway station last November that resulted in 26 deaths, including 14 military personnel. Additionally, stages of Chinese development projects in the area have faced threats, highlighted by a suicide bombing at Karachi airport last October that claimed the lives of several Chinese workers.
Source
www.theguardian.com