E-Paper
Pak PM visits Balochistan to meet train hijack survivors, commandos who beat militants
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif visited Balochistan to meet Jaffar Express attack survivors, a day after forces killed 33 BLA militants involved in the hijacking.
Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif travelled to Balochistan province on Thursday to meet with survivors of the Jaffar Express train attack and the commandos who led the rescue operation that saved over 300 passengers from separatist militants.
Sharif's visit comes a day after security forces killed all 33 Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants who on Tuesday hijacked the Jaffar Express.
Sharif is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Federal Minister for Planning, Development Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Nawabzada Mir Khalid Magsi and others.
Train hijacking: How it unfolded?
The attack began on Tuesday when BLA insurgents blew up the railway track, forcing nine coaches and the engine of the Jaffar Express to halt inside a tunnel in the mountainous terrain near Gudalar and Piru Kunri.
The militants then opened fire on the train’s windows before storming the coaches, killing or wounding passengers and taking others hostage.
The military launched a two-day rescue operation that ended Wednesday with the elimination of all 33 insurgents, ensuring no further passenger deaths.
Military officials revealed that the BLA militants were in direct communication with their leaders in Afghanistan via satellite phone throughout the siege. The Pakistani army has urged the Afghan Taliban government to prevent its territory from being used for cross-border terrorist activities, a charge that Kabul has consistently denied.
Rescue and aftermath
The military operation involved units from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Special Services Group (SSG), Army, and Frontier Corps (FC). Military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry stated that the security forces acted swiftly to neutralize the threat and rescue hostages, emphasizing that such acts of terror would not be tolerated. “This incident changes the rules of the game,” Chaudhry asserted.
Eyewitness accounts from survivors described harrowing moments during the attack.
“They asked us to come outside, saying we would not be harmed. Then they chose people and shot them down,” recalled Muhammad Naveed, who managed to escape. Babar Masih, a Christian laborer, shared how militants spared women and the elderly while executing others. “Our women pleaded with them, and they spared us,” he said.
