The ordeal commenced on Tuesday when separatist militants ambushed the Jaffar Express by detonating explosives on the railway track and launching a rocket attack on the train.
On Tuesday, Mehboob Hussain was traveling home by train when an explosion occurred beneath the front car.
Deep within central Pakistan’s Bolan Pass—a secluded area so isolated it lacks internet and mobile network coverage—the nine-carriage Jaffar Express came to an abrupt stop. Soon after, gunfire erupted.
“I was a passenger on the train that was attacked,” Mr. Hussain recounted.
He, along with approximately 440 others, was journeying from Quetta to Peshawar through the turbulent region of Balochistan when a group of armed militants launched an attack. They detonated explosives on the tracks, opened fire on the train, and subsequently stormed the carriages.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) swiftly claimed responsibility for the assault, warning that they would kill many of those on board if Pakistani authorities did not release Baloch political prisoners within 48 hours.
The group, designated a terrorist organization by many countries, has been engaged in a decades-long insurgency to achieve independence for Balochistan. They accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s abundant mineral resources while simultaneously neglecting its development.
BLA militants have a longstanding history of targeting military camps, railway stations, and trains in the region. However, this marked the first instance of them hijacking a train.
On Tuesday, the Jaffar Express, en route from Quetta to Peshawar with 440 passengers on board, was hijacked, resulting in the deaths of 21 civilians and four soldiers.
Following the attack, Amjad recounted how the militants initially detonated an explosive beneath the train’s engine, causing the carriages to derail, as reported by the Express Train.
He noted that as soon as the train came to a halt, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists launched their assault. Meanwhile, one of the freed passengers remembered how the attackers took them hostage shortly after the explosion.
The Pakistan Army reported that all 33 Baloch insurgents involved in hijacking a passenger train carrying over 400 passengers in the troubled region of Balochistan were killed.
On Thursday, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) dismissed the Pakistani military’s claims regarding the Jaffar Express hijacking as a “lie,” asserting that intense fighting was ongoing and that Pakistani forces were incurring significant losses.
“The truth on the ground is that the battle persists on multiple fronts, with the enemy (Pakistani military) enduring heavy casualties and military setbacks,” the BLA stated in a release.
“The occupying army has neither secured victory on the battlefield nor managed to rescue its captured personnel,” stated the BLA, which seeks independence for Balochistan from Pakistan.
On Tuesday, insurgents opened fire on the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, which was transporting 425 passengers in nine carriages as it passed through the Mashkaf tunnel near Gudalar and Piru Kunri’s mountainous terrain. The train had originated from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.
A Pakistani Army spokesperson announced on Wednesday that the operation to rescue hostages from the train hijacked by Baloch insurgents had concluded, with all 33 militants at the site being killed. The spokesperson added that 21 passengers and four Pakistani Army personnel lost their lives during the security operation.
“The armed forces successfully concluded the operation on Wednesday evening by eliminating all terrorists and safely rescuing all passengers,” stated Lt. Gen Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry.
“Today, we freed a significant number of people, including women and children. The final operation was executed with meticulous care,” he mentioned, noting that 440 people had been aboard and security forces had methodically cleared the train “carriage by carriage.”
The BLA accused the Pakistani Army of misleading the public through propaganda. It claimed that soldiers who were reportedly “rescued” had actually been released by the BLA according to its war ethics and international standards.
The group further alleged that after failing to defeat its fighters in combat, the Pakistani military had begun targeting Baloch civilians.
It also stated that it had proposed a prisoner exchange, claiming that Pakistan refused negotiations and abandoned its soldiers. “Now that the state has forsaken its hostages to die, it must also accept responsibility for their deaths,” it added.
The BLA urged Pakistan to allow independent journalists into conflict zones to verify its victory claims. “If the occupying army truly claims victory, it should permit access to independent journalists and impartial observers in the war-torn areas so that the world can witness the real losses suffered by the Pakistani army,” it said.
The organization declared that the conflict had escalated beyond the control of the Pakistani state and that the BLA remained committed to fighting “until its objectives are achieved.”
FactsBay Team will continue to update as we get more clarity from BLA on the Train Hijack.
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