Pakistani security forces conducted a successful operation to release the hostage from the Jaffar Express train captured by the Balutsk Liberation Army (Bla) fighters. During the assault, 33 fighters were eliminated, and the crisis, which lasted for more than a day and covered hundreds of hostages, was finally completed.
BLA militants on Tuesday blew up the railway track and attacked the Jaffar Express train, which headed from Quette to Peshavar and transported 440 passengers. As a result of the attack, 21 hostages and four security officers were killed.
According to BLA, they killed 50 passengers and kept 214 hostages, mostly military. The militants demanded the release of political prisoners and missing activists, threatening to start the death of hostages.
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Talal Chaudry reported that the attackers were in the vests of suicide bombers, which significantly complicated the surgery to release the hostages. In total, about 80 fighters participated in the attack.
The security forces were involved in special forces, aviation and hundreds of soldiers to storm. The operation began with the elimination of mortals, after which the troops gradually cleared the wagons. According to Ahmed Chaudry Army spokesman, the operation was performed with maximum caution to protect civilians.
It is known that at least 190 people were saved, of whom more than 50 were delivered to Quetta. The exact number of saved passengers has not yet been disclosed.
Among those who survived were 75-year-old Muhammad Ashraf, who told that he had heard the explosion, after which an intense shooting began. "We lay on the floor, and then armed people broke into the wagon and started checking the documents," he said.
One of the security officers also informed Reuters that militants were purposefully looking for military people among passengers.
Meanwhile, the mother of one of the hostages accused power of weak security measures, asking, "Why didn't you stop trains if they were not safe?" Pakistan authorities assured that he was working on strengthening the protection of the region to prevent such incidents in the future.
