The Pakistani armed forces were in a tense stalemate on Wednesday. Hundreds of militants kept about 250 people on a train that they had kidnapped the day before in the remote southwest, said civil servants.
The security forces stayed with battles when militant had barricaded with explosive vests with the hostages on the train.
The separatist Beluchtfreundungs Army had taken responsibility for the attack in a tunnel in Bolan, a district in the province of Belutschistan. His spokesman Jeeyand Baloch said that the group was ready to free passengers if the authorities agree to publish imprisoned militants.
There was no government comment that has rejected such claims in the past.
About 60 militants blow the railway line into the air and push rockets on the Jaffar Express with more than 400 passengers, said a security officer. So far, 190 of the passengers were saved late Wednesday, said government officials. They said that at least 30 militants had been killed in the exchange of shots since Tuesday.
The Pakistani armed forces in the rough region supported helicopters, said spokesman Shahid Rind and described the attack as “act of terrorism”.
It was the first time that the BLA separatists had kidnapped a train even though the group previously attacked trains. The BLA regularly aims at the Pakistani security forces and has also attacked civilians in the past, including Chinese citizens who work on projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor in connection with several billion dollars.
According to estimates, the BLA has around 3,000 fighters.
As part of the Belt and Road Initiative of Beijing, Pakistan organizes thousands of Chinese workers who build large infrastructure projects, including ports and airports in Belutschistan. China condemned the youngest spokeswoman for the attack and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, said her country “will continue to support Pakistan to advance his efforts to fight terrorism”.
The authorities said that the women and children saved so far belong. According to the three security officers, an unknown number of security personnel was killed. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not justified to speak to the media.
Explosion in the tunnel compulsion train to stop
Officials say that the Jafer Express train was partly in a tunnel when the militants blew up the tracks and forced the engine and nine coaches to stop. The driver was wounded and guards on board the train were attacked, although the officials did not provide any details of how many there were or about their fate.
Saved passengers were sent to their hometown and the injured were treated in hospitals in the Mach district. Others were brought to Quetta, the provincial capital, about 100 kilometers away. The train drove from Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar when it was attacked.
Belutschistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the scene of the uprising, whereby separatists from the government in Islamabad are demanding greater autonomy and a larger proportion of the region’s natural resources. Oil and mineral-rich Belutschistan is the largest and the least populated province of Pakistan. It is a hub for the country’s ethnic Belutschmindle, the members of which say that they are exposed to discrimination and exploitation by the central government.
Both countries have frustrated themselves on the two sides of the Iran-Pakistani border. Her governments suspect each other to support or at least tolerate some of the groups that work on the other side of the border.
In Iran, the militant group Jaish al-Adl has carried out many attacks in recent years. Tehran searched for help in combating the threat, and Pakistan also wants Tehran Bla fighter to refuse a sanctuary.
In January 2024, Islamabad and Tehran Tit-for-Tat Affairs operated on insurgents in the border areas of the other person and killed at least 11 people, but quickly dees the situation through conversations.
Demand for negotiations
The BLA said that the hostages and some recorded members of the security forces were guarded by suicide attachments on Wednesday. The BLA has warned that the life of hostage would be endangered if the government was not negotiating.
Trains in Belutschistan usually have security personnel on board, since members of the military often use trains to travel from Quetta to other parts of the country. In November, the BLA carried out a suicide attack at a train station in Quetta and killed 26 people.
Analysts said that the access and his focus on civilians could backfire.
“After BLA has not damaged the Pakistani army within Belutschistan, it has shifted her goals from military military to unarmed civilians. This can immediately give them the attention of the public and in the media, but it will weaken their base of support within the civilian population,” said Syed Muhammad Ali, an independent security analysis by Syed Muhammad Ali, an independent security analysis based in Islamabad.
