Sow and reap ... the theory comes full cycle ::: Baloch separatists hijack train in Pakistan :::: Over 180 hostages held and 20 security personnel killed

Baloch separatists hijack train in Pak, warn passengers will be executed if…

Separatist militants from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) targetted a train in Pakistan's Balochistan province carrying around 500 passengers, claiming to have taken over 180 hostages and killed at least 20 security personnel.

Baloch Liberation Army opens fire on train carrying around 500 people

Group claims 182 taken hostage, 11 Pak military personnel killed

BLA threatens to execute all hostages if military intervention continues

A passenger train in Pakistan carrying around 500 people was hijacked by insurgents in the country’s restive Balochistan province on Tuesday. 

The Balochistan Liberation Army that claimed the attack -- insurgents opened fire on the Jaffar Express -- said that it had taken 182 hostages, adding that 20 Pakistani military personnel had been killed. 

The separatist group also threatened to execute all hostages if security forces didn’t retreat. 

Former president Arif Alvi condemned the “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack”, adding that the people had a united stand on such matters. “This is where exactly, the undivided attention of the armed forces is required,” he said in a post on X.

In October last year, Pakistan Railways had announced the restoration of train services between Quetta and Peshawar after a suspension of more than a month and a half.

Balochistan has witnessed an uptick in terrorist attacks over the past year. In November 2024, at least 26 people were killed and 62 injured after a suicide blast ripped through a Quetta Railway Station.

A security report released in January by the Islamabad-based think tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) showed that in 2024, the number of terror attacks reached levels comparable to the security situation in 2014 or earlier.

It said that while terrorists no longer controlled specific territories inside Pakistan as they did in 2014, the prevailing insecurity in parts of KP and Balochistan was “alarming”.

It said that over 95 per cent of terrorist attacks recorded in 2024 were concentrated in KP and Balochistan.

Attacks by various outlawed Baloch insurgent groups, primarily the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), saw a staggering 119 per cent increase, accounting for 171 incidents in Balochistan, it said.