How Pakistani forces raided a hijacked train and saved passengers in Balochistan
The Baloch Liberation Army, which took credit for the assault, detonated the railway track and launched rockets at the Jaffar Express on Tuesday.
The tense atmosphere inside the Jaffar Express was shattered by a series of gunshots as Pakistani security troops stormed the seized train on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of all 33 separatist fighters and the rescue of numerous passengers.
The prolonged standoff, filled with explosions and threats to hostages, started when Baloch militants targeted the train in Balochistan, demanding the release of inmates.
As elite forces advanced, militants with suicide vests were mingled among frightened travelers. In a final coordinated attack, commandos took out the assailants. However, this incident resulted in the deaths of 21 passengers and four members of the security forces.
"Today, we rescued a significant number of individuals, including women and children... The concluding operation was executed with utmost caution," military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry was quoted by Reuters as saying. He also mentioned that there were no civilian casualties in the final phase of the operation.
The Baloch Liberation Army, which took credit for the assault, detonated the railway track and launched rockets at the Jaffar Express on Tuesday.
The train, with 440 passengers on board, was en route from Quetta in Balochistan to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it became a target.
Prior to the announcement from the army, the Baloch Liberation Army asserted that it had killed 50 passengers on Wednesday evening. On Tuesday, it claimed to have taken 214 individuals hostage, primarily security personnel.
