Militants attack train in southwestern Pakistan, taking hundreds hostage
Armed militants have opened fire on a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan.
IRNA - Armed militants have attacked a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan, taking hundreds of people hostage.
The Jaffar Express train was on route from southwestern Balochistan province to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when militants opened fire on it, officials said on Tuesday.
“Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,” Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official, told reporters.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, and threatened to execute the hostages if the government attempted to intervene.
The separatist group said in a statement that security forces were among the hostages.
The statement said BLA fighters had bombed the rail track before launching the attack.
The motivation behind the hijacking was not immediately clear.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack. “The beasts who fire on innocent passengers do not deserve any concessions.”
Balochistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks over the past year. In November 2024, at least 26 people were killed and 62 others injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta
