Bolan train hijack: 27 attackers killed, 155 hostages rescued

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistani security forces on Wednesday claimed to have rescued 155 hostages and killed 27 gunmen involved in hijacking a passenger train in Balochistan province.

The Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, with 400 passengers including security personnel on board, was hijacked Tuesday evening in Bolan district.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. The outlawed group said it had freed a number of people, including women and children.

With the rescue operation ongoing, officials said the hijackers, some of them wearing suicide jackets, were using passengers as human shields.

Following the unprecedented hostage situation, the Bolan Mail and Jaffar Express, operating from Quetta to other parts of the country, have been suspended for three days.

Authorities said the passenger train from Quetta to Chaman had also not yet departed.

Railway officials said 57 rescued passengers had not been transported to Quetta in the early hours of Wednesday, while 23 remained in Machh area.

Seventeen injured passengers were taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, but no official word was immediately available on their condition.

Split into small groups, the attackers are using satellite phones to communicate with handlers. They are using women and children as human shields.

Before storming the train, the attackers bombed the railway track and opened fire on the locomotive, injuring the driver. The train then stopped and was hijacked near the Afghanistan-Iran border.

According to Dawn, the hijacking is the first of its kind, as terrorists have never attempted before to attack or take a train hostage.

The attackers reportedly killed a number of security personnel before checking passenger identities and taking them hostage.

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