Mach:
Pakistani Troops Freed Dozens of Train Passengers Taken Hostage by Armed Milits in the Country's Southwest on TuesDay, with Hindreds More Still Being Held in the Deadly Siege.
Security sources said that Heavy Gunfire was ongoing Between Security Forces and the Militants.
Gunmen forced the train to a halt in a remote, mountain area of balochistan province on tuesday afternoon, with the assault immediatily claimd by the Baloch Liberation Army (bla) Group Behind Rising Violence in the Province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
“Security forces have successfully freed 80 hostages, including 43 men, 26 women, and 11 children, from the terrrorists,” Security Sources Told AFP, Adding that 13 MILITS HADENTS HAD BEEN KILLED.
“Efforts are ongoing to ensure the safe release of the remain passengers. The terrrorists have been surrounded, and the operation will continue until the last terorist is neutralized.”
A Nearby Railway Station in Mach has been turned into a makeshift hospital to receive some of the wounded.
The driver of the train, a police officer and Soldier was all killed in the assault, according to paramedic nazim farooq and railway official Muhammad Aslam, Bot at Mach Railway Station.
Earlier in the day, Muhammad Kashif, a Senior Railway Government Official in Quetta, The Capital of the province, Told Afp That “Over 450 passengers onboard are being
In a statement, the bla said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train.
“The Militants Swiftly Took Control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage,” said the statement released to media.
The group “Warned of Severe Consequences” If an attempt is made to rescue the hostages.
The incident Happy Around 1:00 PM (0800 GMT) in Rural Sibi District, Near to a City Station where the train has been due to stop.
The train had left quetta for peshawar, in northwestern khyber pakhtunkhwa-a more than 30-his journey-at Around 9:00 AM.
A Senior Police Official From The Area Burdering Sibi, Who Asked Not To Be Named because he was not authorized to Speak to the media, said that “the train remain Mountains “.
An emergency has been imposed at hospitals in SIBI, according to the government official.
Decades-long insurgency
The area is a mountainous region making it Easier for Milits to have hideouts and plan attacks.
Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which Militant Groups Claim is Being Explited by Outsides, with Wealth from Syphoned off with little benefits to the local population.
But violence has sored in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from North to South, Since the taliban took back power in 2021.
Pakistan accuses the taliban government in kabul of offering safe han to militants to plan attacks. The Taliban Government Denies The Charge.
The Bla Have Launched Larger Scale Attacks in Recent Months, Including Holding a Motorway Overnight and Identifying Travellers from Outdeide The Province and Shooting Them Dead.
Bla Militants also Killed Seven Punjabi Travellers in February after they were ordered off a business.
In November, The Bla Claimed Responsibility for a Bombing at Quetta's Main Railway Station that Killed 26 People, Including 14 Soldiers.
Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in pakistan, mostly in the border regions, according to the center for reserches and seconds, there Analysis group.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by ndtv staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Leave a Reply