‘Doomsday scenes’: Train hijacking ends in bloodbath

Pakistan’s hijacked train terror has ended in a shootout between a militant group and security forces, leaving many people dead.

Pakistan’s train hijack terror has ended in a daylong bloodbath, with all suicide vest insurgents killed in a fierce battle between security forces and separatist militants.

Pakistani forces rescued over 300 passengers, ceasing the deadly standoff in Balochistan’s Bolan tunnel, where 450 people had been trapped aboard the Jaffar Express since Tuesday.

Some hostages were also killed, authorities confirmed, though the exact death toll remains unclear.

Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan. Picture: AP

Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told a provincial assembly: “We have also lost people, but we will share details later.”

Officials, speaking anonymously, confirmed the operation was complete but gave no details on the number of hostages killed.

Survivors of the hijacking are now being sent home, while the injured are being treated in hospitals across Mach and Quetta.

Separatist militants clad in suicide vests had taken 250 hostages and issued a 24-hour deadline for authorities to meet their demands - but later started murdering them.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had claimed “complete control” over the train after militants stormed it in a tunnel, blowing up the tracks and immobilizing nine coaches.

A soldier works to evacuate freed train passengers. Picture: AFP

They had earlier threatened to execute five hostages every hour unless authorities agreed to release jailed militants.

Pakistani security forces earlier engaged in a deadly battle - which had killed at least 30 militants - to rescue more than 190 people.

The government said on Wednesday afternoon that about 130 hostages were still being held.

A spokesperson said: “There was an attempt to rescue the hostages last night but it was repelled by the insurgents. In the morning, another attempt was repelled.”

Members of the Balochistan Liberation Army. Picture: BLA

Truckloads of coffins were also been moved in as the country braced for a bloodbath.

The Pakistani government has decided to send 200 coffins so far “as per protocol”, sources told local outlet Times Now News.

The BLA had claimed it was holding more than 200 military personnel alongside civilians and threatened to execute five hostages every hour after the deadline expires.

A soldier hands out tea to freed train passengers gathered at the Mach railway station, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital. Picture: AFP

It declared: “The occupying state has only 24 hours left.”

The group’s chilling statement vowed hostages would be put on trial in a “Baloch National Court” if their demand for a prisoner exchange was ignored.

The Pakistani government has not commented on negotiations but has previously rejected such demands.

Shahid Rind, a government spokesman, said: “This is an act of terrorism.”

Earlier, passengers who were freed from the train described “doomsday scenes” that unfolded on board the Jaffar Express in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

“We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next,” Ishaq Noor, who was a passenger on the train, told the BBC.

Rescued passengers from a train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan. Picture: AP

He was one of more than 400 passengers travelling from Quetta to Peshawar on Tuesday local time when the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attacked and took a number hostage. The train driver was among several reported injured.

Muhammad Ashraf, who was travelling from Quetta to Lahore to visit family, was among a group of passengers who managed to escape the train late.

“There was a lot of fear among the passengers. It was a scene of doomsday,” he told the BBC.

The group then walked for nearly four hours to the next railway station. Several of the men carried the weaker passengers on their shoulders.

“We reached the station with great difficulty, because we were tired and there were children and women with us,” he said.

Freed train passengers gather at the Mach railway station after Pakistani troops freed dozens of train passengers taken hostage by armed militants in the country's southwest. Picture: AFP

Soldiers secure Mach railway station after Pakistani security forces freed some passengers following a security operation against armed militants. Picture: AFP

Mr Noor, who was travelling with his wife and two children, said the initial explosion on the train was “so intense” that one of his children fell from the seat.

He and his wife each tried to shield one child amid the gunfire.

“If a bullet comes our way, it will hit us and not the children,” he said.

According to the BBC, security forces deployed hundreds of troops to rescue the remaining passengers. Authorities have also deployed helicopters and special forces personnel.

The BLA has warned of “severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue the remaining hostages.

More than a dozen freed passengers were taken to hospital for treatment.

Paramedics treat an injured passenger at the Mach railway station. Picture: AFP

Bystanders help to evacuate an injured passenger on a stretcher at the Mach railway station. Picture: AFP

Earlier, Pakistani forces launched a “full-scale” operation to rescue train passengers taken hostage by militants in the mountainous southwest.

More than 450 passengers were on board when militants captured the train at the entrance of a tunnel in a remote frontier district.

The Baloch Liberation Army, a designated terrorist organisation which is fighting for independence of the Balochistan province, bombed a section of the railway track and stormed the train on Tuesday afternoon in southwest Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, where attacks by separatists have been on the rise.

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 siphoned 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.

– with AFP

Originally published as ‘Doomsday scenes’: Train hijacking ends in bloodbath