Pakistan Train Hijack: Baloch separatists hold 214 hostage, claim 30 security personnel killed

Baloch separatists opened fire on a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, injuring the train driver, according to police and railway officials. The Jaffar Express, carrying approximately 500 passengers in nine bogies was traveling from Quetta in Balochistan to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it came under attack, railway authorities said.

In a statement, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the hostage crisis and said they had taken hostages from the train, including security forces. At least 30 military personnel were killed in the attack, they said.

“The Baloch Liberation Army has carried out a meticulously planned operation in Mashkaf, Dhadar, Bolan, where our freedom fighters have blown up the railway track, forcing the Jaffar Express to come to a halt. The fighters swiftly took control of the train, holding all passengers hostage,” it said.

“BLA has maintained complete control of the train and all hostages for the past eight hours. Under the rules of war, these 214 hostages are considered prisoners of war and BLA is prepared for a prisoner exchange. The occupying state of Pakistan is given 48 hours to immediately and unconditionally release Baloch political prisoners, forcibly disappeared persons and national resistance activists. If our demands are not met within the stipulated period or if the occupying state attempts any military action during this time, all prisoners of war will be neutralized and the train will be destroyed. The Pakistani army will bear full responsibility for the consequences,” it said.

Railway officials confirmed that the train’s driver sustained serious injuries, and an emergency relief train has been dispatched to assist.

“There are reports of intense firing at a Jaffar Express, which was heading from Quetta to Peshawar, between Pehro Kunri and Gadalar,” Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind was quoted as saying by Dawn.

The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan. It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the South Asian nation’s government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.

Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population.

Violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021.

More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan in 2024 – the deadliest year in almost a decade – according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

BLA militants killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus.

At least 39 people were killed in coordinated attacks last year that largely targeted ethnic Punjabis.

In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.

With inputs from agencies