Baloch separatists ambushed a passenger train in south-western Pakistan on Tuesday, killing the driver and holding some hostages, police and railway officials reported.
The Jaffar Express, which carried around 500 passengers on nine bogies, was moving from Quetta in Balochistan to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it came under attack. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) later claimed that they had seized the train, detonated explosives on the track, and kidnapped 182 people, including military personnel.
In a statement, the BLA alleged that up to 20 soldiers had been slain in the attack. Abdul Qadir Baloch, a former parliamentarian, however, said 150 Pakistani military personnel had been killed in exchanges of gunfire as security forces tried to rescue the hostages.
Railway officials confirmed the train driver was badly hurt and an emergency relief train was dispatched for assistance. Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind told local media there was “intense firing” between Pehro Kunri and Gadalar.
The BLA is the largest of several separatist groups in Balochistan, who have traditionally accused the Pakistani state of exploiting the province’s vast gas and mineral deposits without offering any returns to the native people. The province has been a breeding ground for rebellion for decades, and militancy has gained momentum following the Taliban coup in Afghanistan in 2021.
There have been over 1,600 deaths of people killed by attacks in Pakistan in 2024, an all-time record, the Center for Research and Security Studies found. The BLA has recently carried out numerous attacks, among them an assault on seven Punjabi travelers back in February as well as an attack with a bomb in November that claimed the lives of 26 individuals.
