Pakistani security forces have rescued 190 passengers from a train hijacked by separatist militants in the southwestern province of Balochistan, Al Jazeera reports.
Operations are ongoing to free the remaining estimated 250 hostages still held on board.
The military launched a major operation on Wednesday against fighters from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) who seized the train on Tuesday. The train, carrying approximately 450 passengers, including military personnel, was attacked as it travelled through the remote region of Balochistan, where the BLA seeks independence from Islamabad.
According to officials, security forces are proceeding cautiously due to the presence of BLA fighters wearing explosive vests among the captives. At least 30 of the rebels have reportedly been killed in the ongoing operation. The exact number of casualties among soldiers, passengers, and BLA fighters remains unclear.
The BLA has claimed responsibility for the attack, offering to negotiate a prisoner swap. On Tuesday, the group threatened to begin executing hostages if Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing persons, who the BLA alleges were abducted by the military, were not released within 48 hours. The government has yet to respond to the offer or the threat.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the attack, with government spokesman Shahid Rind calling it “an act of terrorism.”
The BLA fighters reportedly detonated explosives on the railway track and opened fire on the train as it travelled from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the remote Sibi district.
Balochistan, rich in oil and minerals, is Pakistan’s largest and least populated province and a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority. Members of the Baloch community have long claimed discrimination from the central government. The BLA asserts that the region’s natural resources are being exploited by outsiders, and they have increasingly targeted Pakistani citizens, particularly those from other regions.
Since the Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan in 2021, violence has surged along the region’s western border. The BLA has a history of deadly attacks on trains and buses. In November, a separatist group carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta, killing 26 people. In February, BLA fighters killed seven Punjabi travellers after ordering them off a bus.
The group has also targeted Chinese-backed infrastructure projects and Chinese citizens in the Arabian Sea region.
Both Pakistan and the United States have designated the BLA, estimated to have around 3,000 fighters, as a terrorist organization.
