At least 27 hostages were killed during a rescue operation in Pakistan after armed militants hijacked a passenger train in the southwestern province of Balochistan, a security source confirmed on Wednesday.
The Baloch Liberation Army, a militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The deadly standoff began on Tuesday when the militants ambushed the Jaffer Express, which was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar.
According to officials, the attackers opened heavy gunfire as the train passed through a tunnel, trapping around 450 passengers. Pakistan’s military responded by launching a rescue operation that ended with the death of 35 militants and one soldier.
A security source, speaking to CNN, revealed that the militants used “women and children as shields” during the standoff.
Passengers have shared harrowing accounts of the ordeal. One woman described the situation as the “Day of Judgement,” saying she had to flee gunfire and walk for two hours to reach safety.
Another passenger, Mohammad Ashraf, told CNN that over 100 armed men stormed the train, but they did not harm women and children.
Reports suggest that the militants were in contact with handlers in Afghanistan, a claim Pakistan’s military has repeatedly made, accusing Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government of sheltering insurgent groups — an allegation the Afghan authorities have denied.
Tuesday’s attack marks a major escalation in the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. The province, rich in minerals and home to the strategic Gwadar port, has long struggled with violence as the BLA pushes for greater political autonomy and economic rights for the ethnic Baloch population.
The attack has raised concerns about security in the region, with analysts warning that the situation is deteriorating. Abdul Basit, a Senior Associate Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the insurgency had “evolved both in its strategy and scale.”
“The larger point that the Pakistani state is not grasping is that it’s not business as usual anymore,” Basit stated. “Instead of revising its counterproductive policies, it is persisting with them, resulting in recurrent security and intelligence failures.”
In response to the attack, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to fight terrorism, saying, “The terrorists’ targeting of innocent passengers during the peaceful and blessed month of Ramadan is a clear reflection that these terrorists have no connection with the religion of Islam, Pakistan, and Balochistan.”
This latest violence has drawn international attention, especially from China, which has significant investments in Balochistan through its Belt and Road Initiative.
Basit emphasized the need for urgent action, stating, “A major reset of the existing security paradigm is required in Balochistan.”
As the nation mourns the lives lost, the federal government faces mounting pressure to strengthen security and address the growing insurgency in the region.
