180 Passengers, Mostly Soldiers, Held Hostage As Rebels Hijack Train In Pakistan

The Baloch Liberation Military (BLA) which seeks independence for Balochistan from Pakistan in a press release mentioned it took management of a practice and saved over 180 passengers, most of them Pakistani troopers, hostages. A number of Pakistani navy personnel have been additionally killed, the BLA mentioned.

The Jaffar Specific, with over 450 passengers on board in 9 bogies, was on its manner from Quetta in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired on, railway officers advised information company Reuters.

“Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,” Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway authorities official in Quetta, advised information company AFP earlier.

The BLA in a press release signed by its spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch mentioned the hostages might be killed if Pakistani forces launch an operation.

The BLA fighters blew the railway tracks and compelled the practice to cease inside a tunnel, after which they boarded it.

“Any navy incursion might be met with an equally forceful response. Up to now, six navy personnel have been killed, and lots of of passengers stay underneath BLA custody. The Baloch Liberation Military takes full accountability for this operation,” the BLA spokesperson mentioned within the assertion shared on social media.

Safety forces had reached the location of the incident, within the Mushqaf space of the Bolan district of Balochistan, a railway official mentioned.

The Balochistan authorities has imposed emergency measures and all establishments have been mobilised to take care of the scenario, authorities spokesperson Shahid Rind mentioned.

A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant teams has led to frequent assaults towards the Pakistani authorities, military and Chinese language pursuits within the area, urgent calls for for a share in mineral-rich assets.

The BLA is the largest of a number of ethnic rebel teams which have battled the Pakistani authorities for many years, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s wealthy fuel and mineral assets.

Though Balochistan is the biggest province of Pakistan by space, overlaying practically 44 per cent of the nation’s whole landmass, it’s the least populated province. The province is dwelling to one of many world’s largest deep-sea ports in Gwadar, which Pakistan says is strategically vital for each regional and international commerce routes.

Located within the southwestern area of Pakistan, Balochistan shares borders with the Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the northeast, Punjab to the east, and Sindh to the southeast. It additionally borders Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the north, whereas its southern boundary is shaped by the Arabian Sea.

With inputs from Reuters