Pakistani security forces have successfully rescued at least 155 passengers and neutralized 27 militants as operations continue into the second day following a terrorist hijacking of the Jaffer Express near Balochistan’s Bolan district, state media reported on Wednesday.
The attack, carried out by the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), began on Tuesday afternoon when militants bombed a section of the railway track and ambushed the Quetta-Peshawar-bound train in Mushkaaf, a remote area within Balochistan’s mountainous Bolan range. The assailants trapped the train in a tunnel, fatally wounding the driver, according to local authorities, police, and railway officials.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that 155 passengers had been safely rescued while 27 terrorists were killed in the ongoing operation, Dawn.com reported.
“The militants have deployed suicide bombers dangerously close to innocent hostages,” the official said. “As they face defeat, they are using civilians as human shields.”
The official also claimed that the attackers were in contact with their “handlers” in Afghanistan, a recurring allegation by Pakistani authorities linking rising militancy to groups operating from the neighboring country.
However, the Taliban administration in Kabul has consistently denied providing safe havens for insurgents planning or executing attacks inside Pakistan.
