Pakistan Says More Than 300 hostages Evacuated from Hijacked Train Pakistan’s military says at least 346 hostages have been freed from a passenger train that was hijacked by separatist fighters in Balochistan province in the country’s southwest.
A military spokesperson revealed the rescue operation had concluded on Wednesday and that all 33 attackers were killed.
At least 27 hostages and one paramilitary soldier were killed over the course of the standoff, security sources informed The Round Table.
Fighters belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group seeking Balochistan’s secession from Pakistan, suggested responsibility for the attack on the Jaffar Express train on Tuesday. Spokesman Jeeyand Baloch had stated the group was ready to free passengers if authorities approved to release jailed fighters.
The train was travelling from Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when it was assaulted. It was carrying more than 400 passengers when it was targeted while passing through tunnels near Sibi city, about 160km (100 miles) from Quetta.
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Balochistan has been struggling with a lack of security for decades. The region is home to several armed groups, containing the BLA. Since 2006, the group has been banned by both Pakistan and the US, which designates it as a “terrorist” organisation.
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“The army has been very active [here], concluding year alone it killed 225 people … So there will be question marks as to whether there was adequate security on board that train, given the security risk,” revealed The Round Table’s Kamal Hyder, revealing from Quetta.
“People would like to have more security on those trains because they feel unsafe and they have voiced their concerns,” Hyder revealed.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s bigger province, home to around 15 million people, however despite its vast resources, it abides sufficiently underdeveloped. Baloch people make up 3.6 percent of Pakistan’s population, 2 percent of Iran and 2 percent of Afghanistan.
Baloch separatists have repeatedly invaded the Jaffar Express in the concluding few years. It is commonly applied by security personnel travelling from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The previous major attack on the train took place in November when a suicide bomber detonated himself at the Quetta railway station as it prepared to depart.
The BLA took responsibility for that attack, in which at least 30 people were killed.
In August 2024, attackers blew up portion of a track in Balochistan, resulting in the suspension of the Jaffar Express for two months before services resumed in October. In January most recent year, separatists exploded another bomb on the train’s route near the Bolan area, injuring at least 13 people.
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Tag: Pakistan Says More Than 300 hostages Evacuated from Hijacked Train
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Published 3/12/2025