Wed 12/Mar/2025 – 06:01 AM
Pakistani police announced that separatist gunmen detonated a railway line and opened fire on a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, kidnapped dozens of hostages and clashed with the security forces that were carrying out a rescue operation.
Running train passengers in Pakistan
According to Reuters, the police did not specify the number of passengers who were held hostage in the remote mountainous area, but the rebels said they were holding 214 people, and threatened to start executing them.
The region’s police officer, Rana Delawar, said that the damaged train is still in place and that the gunmen were holding passengers, adding that the security forces launched a wide operation, and helicopters and private forces were deployed.
The local authorities, the police and railway officials reported that the train was trapped in a tunnel, and the driver died after he was seriously injured.
In the same context, the Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist armed group, announced that it had detonated the train railway quickly, threatening that it would execute ten people in response to the ongoing military operation.
The Balochistan Liberation Army called for a release within 48 hours for the Baluch political prisoners, activists and missing persons who said that they were kidnapped by the army, saying: The Balochistan Liberation Army is ready to exchange the prisoners .. If our demands are not implemented during the specified period or if the occupied state tries to do any military action during this period, all prisoners of war will be neutralized and the train is completely destroyed.
The group, which is seeking the independence of the Baluchistan region, located on the border with Afghanistan and Iran, said the hostages, including members of the Pakistani army and other security officials who were traveling on leave.
