Sibi:
Pakistan’s security sources said on Wednesday that the army had freed 190 train passengers who took hostage by gunmen on the second day of siege in the hill southwest.
More than 450 passenger boards were on the board when a separatist operator group captured the train in a remote frontier district, with an unknown number of hostage still being held.
190 passengers have been rescued, “so far, 190 passengers have been rescued, and 30 terrorists have been killed. Due to the presence of women and children with suicidal attackers, extreme care is being taken,” 190 passengers have been rescued, and 30 terrorists have been killed. Told AFP.
“The operation continues to eliminate the remaining terrorists.”
Attacks by separatist groups that accuse outsiders of looting natural resources in Balochistan who carry forward the boundaries of Afghanistan and Iran have increased over the years.
The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, which released a video of an explosion on the track, after which dozens of terrorists and trains came from the hilly hiding places.
A security officer in the area told AFP, “Information shows that some terrorists have fled, taking out the unknown number of hostages in local mountainous areas.”
Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in the provincial capital Quetta, told the AFP on Tuesday afternoon that 450 passengers were taken hostage on the board.
Passengers who used to run for hours through the rugged mountains to reach the security freed by the militants.
The 38 -year -old Christian laborer told AFP on Wednesday, “Our women begs with them, and they spared us,” they asked us to get out and did not look back. As soon as we ran, I saw many others walking with us. “
At a railway station in Quetta, paramilitary soldiers brought empty coffins, which will be sent to the scene.
“I could not find the word to explain how we managed to escape. It was terrible,” Muhammad Bilal, who was traveling with his mother in the Jaffer Express train, told the AFP.
Outsiders identified
The BLA has staged a series of recent attacks against security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province that they accuse them of benefiting from the money of the region.
The group has demanded an exchanges with security forces for its captured members.
According to paramedic Nazim Farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, the train driver, a police officer and a military were killed in the attack.
Many passengers told AFP that the gunmen demanded an identity card to confirm who was from outside the province, similar to the recent attacks carried out by the BLA.
One passenger said, “They checked the ID and service card and shot two soldiers in front of me and took the other in four … I don’t know,” a passenger said, who asked to be identified, after walking at the nearest train station for four hours.
“Those who were Punjabi were taken away by terrorists,” he said.
About 80 of the passengers issued were taken to Quetta under “tight security”, a police officer said that it was not authorized to talk to the media.
Furnace growing
Officers restrict access to some areas of Balochistan, where many energy and infrastructure projects are supported by China, which has invested billions in the region including a major port and airport.
The BLA claims that the natural resources of the region are being exploited by outsiders and have increased the attacks targeting Pakistanis from other areas, security forces and foreign infrastructure projects.
The group coordinated the night -long attacks last year including controlling a major highway and shooting dead passengers of other ethnic groups, surprisingly involving the country.
The BLA claimed an attack in February in which 17 paramilitary soldiers were killed and a woman suicide bomber killed a soldier this month.
A BLA statement said, “Balochistan belongs to the valuable natural resources Baloch Nation.”
“Pakistani military generals and their Punjabi aristocrats are robbing these resources for their own luxury.”
Residents of Baloch regularly protest against the state, which they accuse extremism of scoring innocent people in their cracks.
According to The Independent Center for Research and Security Studies, the security forces have been struggling with long rebellion for a long time, but the province has seen an increase in violence compared to 2023 last year.
It was found that 2024 was the deadliest year for Pakistan in a decade, increasing violence along the Afghanistan border as the Taliban government withdrew power in Kabul in 2021.
Pakistan convicted its neighbor for allowing militant groups to give safe shelter to plan and launch attacks on Pakistan, refusing a charge Kabul.
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