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Pakistan’s army has said it has freed more than 300 hostages from a train hundreds of separatist militants hijacked in a remote and volatile region.
At least 33 militants were killed in gunfire exchanges which started on Tuesday, when militants stormed the train travelling through a tunnel in Balochistan.
Twenty-one hostages and four members of the military were killed before the army’s operation started, a military spokesperson said, adding that its search operation is ongoing to rule out lasting threats. The militants said they killed 50 passengers. The Independent was not able to verify the militants’ account.
The security forces held off from full-out battles as militants wearing suicide vests loaded with explosives barricaded themselves inside the train with passengers in the rugged Bolan area.
Helicopters backed up the Pakistani forces desperately trying to free hostages.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has taken responsibility for the attack, demanding the release of jailed militants in exchange for the release of the passengers. There has been no comment from the government, which has previously rejected similar demands.
Hostages and some captured Pakistan security force members were guarded by suicide bombers, the BLA said.
“This is an act of terrorism,” government spokesman Shahid Rind said.
Footage released by the BLA shows the moment the militants blew up the railway, erupting in a black cloud of smoke and trapping the Jafar Express train in a tunnel before opening fire on the onboard security staff. Some BLA fighters are believed to have then gathered on a hill in the distance as the train came to a halt.
Balochistan trains typically have security personnel on board as military often travel from Quetta to other parts of the country by train.
The attack, which wounded the driver, happened while the train was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, police and railway officials said.
Reports of heavy fire on the railway were confirmed by a Balochistan government spokesperson yesterday.
The tough terrain made it hard for authorities to access the site, the spokesperson added, but a relief train was sent and security forces are active in the area.
The train was stopped in a mountainous area where militants have easier access to hiding and planning.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the scene of insurgency with separatists demanding greater autonomy from the government in Islamabad and a larger share of the region’s natural resources.
Rescued passengers were sent to their hometowns and the injured were being treated at hospitals in the Mach district.
Others were taken to Quetta, the provincial capital, about 62 miles away.
Relatives of the hostages had gathered at Quetta station, hoping their families would be amongst those rescued.
Many of them cursed Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi who last year claimed that the BLA was no threat and that “an ordinary police inspector could fix this situation”.
Mr Naqvi has condemned the attack but said the government would not concede to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers”.
The brother of one hostage, Hamad Khan, had said he was desperate for information about about him.
The mother of a son held hostage confronted regional minister Mir Zahoor Buledi when he visited the freed passengers.
“If you cannot protect trains, then you should not run them. Please, bring my son back,” she said.
Another man, Shams Ullah Khan, said two of his relatives were also on the train – a bank employee and a labourer.
“People were attacked … passengers were injured and some passengers died,” said Muhammad Ashraf, who was on the train.
Other witnesses told Geo News that security asked them to stay low during the gunfire.
Pakistan Railways has suspended operations from Punjab and Sindh to Balochistan until safety is restored, local media reported.
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