Militant separatist group Baloch Liberation Army on Tuesday took over 450 passengers on a train hostage in an attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and threatened to kill them if their demands were not met, AFP reported.
The Jaffar Express was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired upon, Reuters quoted unidentified railway and police officials as confirming. The driver was wounded in the attack, the officials said, adding that the train was trapped inside a tunnel.
“Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,” AFP quoted Muhammad Kashif, a railway government official in Quetta, as saying.
Quetta is the provincial capital of Balochistan.
Kashif told Dawn that the train was made up of nine coaches and had around 500 passengers on board. “The train was stopped by armed men in Tunnel No 8,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “Efforts are being made to contact the passengers and staff.”
An unidentified police official told AFP that “the area where the train is halted is a mountainous region, making it easier for militants to have hideouts and plan attacks”.
Reuters quoted security forces as saying that an explosion had been heard around the tunnel and that they were exchanging fire with the militants in the area.
Later, the Baloch Liberation Army in a statement said that it had taken hostages from the train, including security forces, according to Reuters. The group also threatened to execute the hostages if the security forces did not retreat.
Condemning the attack, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that his government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers”, Reuters reported.
The Baloch Liberation Army is a militant group operating in the Balochistan region of Pakistan and advocating for the secession of the region from the country through armed struggle.
The group, designated a terrorist organisation by the Pakistani government, is known for carrying out frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region.
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