At least 190 passengers have been freed and 30 terrorists killed, security sources said, as a rescue operation enters its “final stages” after terrorists hijacked the Jaffar Express near Balochistan’s Bolan district, state media reported on Wednesday.
State media reported that casualties were being determined, while all terrorists involved in the incident have been “sent to the hell”. The unprecedented hostage situation began on Tuesday near the Mashkaf Tunnel, about 157 kilometres from Quetta, when terrorists attacked the Jaffar Express and took more than 400 passengers hostage, including numerous security personnel.
Key developments
- Train carrying around 450 people, including security personnel, hijacked; BLA claims responsibility
- 70 to 80 terrorists were involved in the incident, according to interior ministry
- 190 passengers; including 37 injured, rescued; 57 of rescued passengers shifted to the provincial capital
- Terrorists in contact with their facilitators in Afghanistan, as per state media
- Help desk and emergency cell set up for families of travellers
-PM Shehbaz says he’s in touch with CM Bugti, condemns attack - Condemnations pour in from US, China, UN, Iran, and Germany
Security forces claimed to have rescued around 190 passengers so far — including women and children — from the attackers, state-run Radio Pakistan reported today, citing security sources.
The security sources added that 30 terrorists had been killed by security forces so far, while the operation to eliminate the remaining assailants was continuing.
The report further said 37 injured had been sent for medical treatment.
Minister of State for Railways, Bilal Azhar Kayani, told Geo News that the operation had entered its “final stages” as per the latest reports.
“It has been ensured with great expertise and care that the loss of lives is minimised. Unfortunately, there are reports of some people martyred who the terrorists had already targeted with violence, but further details will come forth,” he added.
Radio Pakistan earlier reported that the terrorists responsible for the cowardly attack on Jaffar Express were “in contact with their facilitators in Afghanistan.”
“The terrorists have positioned suicide bombers very close to some innocent hostages. The suicide bombers are wearing explosive vests,” the report quoted security sources as saying.
“In anticipation of possible defeat, the terrorists are using innocent people as human shields,” the report said.
It added that suicide bombers have “taken women and children hostage at three different locations” and that the operation was being conducted with “utmost caution” due to the presence of women and children.
There was no confirmation of the total number of casualties, but officials said that at least 30 people — including the driver of the locomotive and eight security personnel — had lost their lives as the forces engaged in a gun battle.
It was not immediately clear whether these people had been freed as the result of kinetic military action or were among those allegedly freed by the armed assailants.
The hijacking was a first-of-its-kind event, as terrorists had never attempted to attack or take an entire train and its occupants hostage earlier.
The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed to have taken a large number of people hostage. The group also claimed that they had freed several people — including women and children — but these reports could not be independently verified.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X that he had spoken to the Balochistan chief minister and been briefed on the operation, adding that dozens of terrorists had been “sent to hell”.
“The entire nation is deeply shocked by this dastardly act and saddened by the loss of innocent lives — such cowardly acts will not shake Pakistan’s resolve for peace,” the PM wrote.
“I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs … and [may God] and bless those injured with a swift recovery. Dozens of the terrorists have been sent to hell,” he added in his post.
70 to 80 terrorists involved in incident: interior official
Speaking to Geo News today, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that about 70 to 80 terrorists were involved in the incident.
“Even right now, the terrorists have made human shields out of women and children. These suicide bombers are making small groups of the women and children and staying with them.
“That’s why this operation is being undertaken with care, to protect the maximum number of lives,” the minister said.
“The handlers of these terrorists are in a neighbouring country; those giving them dollars are in another country. Our enemy India will definitely support this,” he said.
“But what is unfortunate is that even in Pakistan, there were social media statements and tweets that made it seem like they were supporting terrorism and discouraging the security forces.
“The government will handle these social media statements the way it is handling the terrorists,” he warned.
Chaudhry acknowledged the need for strict action. “We have previously tried to take local stakeholders into confidence, and we will try again.
“But you cannot say, ‘the government does not communicate with us, they don’t take us into confidence. ’”
Responding to a question, he said: “I agree with you, that this insurgency, this terrorism cannot be wiped out until the political forces behind the security forces stand together with one voice.”
He claimed that between 2013 and 2018 — when the PTI was in power — terrorism had been eliminated because political forces took note and stood behind their security forces. He also said that the successive government had policies that allowed many people from neighbouring countries to come to Pakistan.
“This BLA and TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan)… they are a result of collaboration between people who don’t want to see Pakistan be stable. PSX goes up, the rupee becomes stable, and terrorism increases. Why? To destabilise [the country],” he said.
“Keeping civilians safe and eliminating terrorists is what’s taking time with the operation,” Chaudhry reiterated. “I cannot give a timeframe, but it is hoped that this operation is completed quickly, and after that, more details can be shared.”
He also requested that “fake news and videos” not be spread on social media.
“Tell me, in a mountainous area with no signals, where nothing else is present, information cannot come from there. All this was pre-planned. We should not pay heed to these statements and videos discouraging our security forces.”
‘They are not ready to talk’: Bugti
In an address to the Balochistan Assembly, Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti talked about the train attack and separatism in the province, lamenting that there was nobody to advocate for the victims.
“Why don’t they (separatists and their advocates) talk about the realities?” Bugti asked. “Parliament has given them rights. The problem is that there’s nobody to talk about victims of violence and terrorism.
“If the BLA is running a jirga, will we take part?” he asked the provincial assembly. “They want to impose their ideology with a gun and violence. Should we allow them to take people off buses and kill them?
The CM further emphasised that the train was carrying soldiers headed home while on leave; thus, they were unarmed. “There are rules in war, and there are laws,” Bugti added. “What will history say, that innocent teachers, barbers, and doctors were murdered?”
Bugti continued: “Whoever commits acts of violence against the state, whoever tries to partake in it, whoever takes up arms, the state will punish them unequivocally.”
“By attacking soft targets, they have created this environment,” he said. “If they want to fight, we have cantonments and other hard targets. But they attack passengers on buses and target them on ethnic grounds.”
Referring to dialogue, the chief minister said that nobody is heading efforts to establish talks with separatist groups because “they are not ready” to sit at the table.
“There are two kinds of people: murderers with guns and those who advocate for them and glorify them on TV and social media,” Bugti stressed. “No country allows this except for ours. They talk about breaking apart our state and call it solidarity.”
Overcoming obstacles
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti chaired a meeting on law and order and was briefed on the Jaffar Express attack by the additional home chief secretary.
“The attack is intolerable, and strict action should be taken,” CM Bugti said.
“Terrorists can’t occupy even an inch. The terrorist attack aims to create an impression of a violent environment,” he told the participants of the meeting.
“The dream of anti-national elements to cut Pakistan like a cake can never be realised. We must rid ourselves of any confusion and fight the war against terrorism,” he said.
CM Bugti said that the enemies of Balochistan would not be allowed to succeed at any cost. He directed that all resources be provided to security institutions to protect the people.
“There will be strong action against the facilitators of terrorists,” he said. “There will be no compromise on the law and order situation in Balochistan, and tough decisions must be made.”
He directed the law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators of the hijacking to justice soon.
Chief Secretary Balochistan Shakeel Qadir Khan, Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari, and IG Railways Rai Tahir, among other officials, attended the meeting.
Although hampered by the remoteness of the area, security forces said they had launched a massive operation in the Dhadar area of Bolan Pass to rescue the hostages.
An operation to recover the rest of the missing passengers and bring the attackers to justice continued in the area around the Mashkaf Tunnel.
Due to the sensitive nature of the action underway, Dawn.com will not report any critical operational details until the situation has been resolved.
Following the attack, Pakistan Railways temporarily suspended its entire operations from Punjab and Sindh to Balochistan and vice versa.
Amid the ongoing operation, Pakistan Railways announced setting up a “Help Desk” at Rawalpindi Railway Station for families to seek information about their loved ones onboard the train.
The help desk, which the Pakistan Railways said was in constant contact with the control rooms in Quetta and Peshawar, can be contacted on 051-9270831, 051-9270834 and 051-9270835.
An “Emergency Cell” has also been set up at Quetta Railway Station for information on the passengers and can be reached at 081-9201210, 081-9201211, and 117.
The train operation to Quetta has been temporarily suspended and will be restored after security clearance, Pakistan Railways reiterated.
Quetta Railway Hospital’s Dr Hasan Naqil told reporters at the city’s railway station earlier today that 57 passengers had been shifted to the provincial capital after being rescued.
He added that 23 of them were residents of Balochistan’s Mach and Sibi districts and that a relief train was to depart for Mach after getting security clearance.
“We do not have any information about the dead and the injured,” the doctor told reporters earlier today. He highlighted that the route where the train was stopped was a harsh terrain and “accessing it was difficult”.
‘God saved us’: Rescued people recall details of attack
“God saved us,” one elderly rescued man told media earlier today at the Quetta railway station, where passengers were brought from Mach after being recovered.
“God will help, but [right now] the situation is not good,” the distraught man added.
Recounting the attack, he said a “[rocket] launcher” hit the train’s engine, after which gunfire began. “There were launchers and such [huge] explosions,” the man said, tilting his face upwards to describe the scale of the attack.
An elderly woman accompanying him echoed the same sentiments, saying: “God has saved us […] May God destroy them (terrorists).”
“We were anxious, we started sweating […] I told my husband ‘let’s leave quickly’,” the woman added.
She recalled that the couple walked to a nearby railway station, from where a cargo train took them to Mach. “It was very unlikely that we would have been saved,” the elderly woman added.
Mohammad Ashraf, another rescued passenger who was going from Quetta to Lahore, when asked if he saw any people dying during the attack, said he saw “at least six or seven” travellers losing their lives.
“[…] no one was looking anywhere or speaking to each other. Everyone was quiet because of fear,” the elderly man told reporters.
“There was gunfire [but] God protected us,” said another rescued man, according to a video making rounds on social media. He thanked the soldiers and Frontier Constabulary personnel for bringing them back to a railway station.
UN, China, US call for hostages’ release as world condemns attack
The developments prompted worldwide condemnations and calls for the release of the travellers taken hostage by the terrorists.
Several countries, including China, the US, and Iran, condemned the attack.
“We strongly condemn the attack on the Jaffar Express train, and the hostage-taking of passengers in Kacchi, Balochistan, claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, a US-Specially Designated Global Terrorist group,” the US Embassy in Islamabad posted on X.
“We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the victims, their families, and all those affected by this horrific act. The Pakistani people deserve to live free from violence and fear. The United States will remain a steadfast partner of Pakistan in its efforts to ensure the safety and security of all its citizens. We stand in solidarity with Pakistan during this difficult time.”
China also denounced the attack and vowed to continue its firm support to Pakistan in combating terrorism, maintaining solidarity and social stability and protecting the safety of civilians.
“We noted the reports and strongly condemn this terrorist attack,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said during her regular briefing in response to a question regarding a terrorist attack on the train.
She said that China firmly opposes terrorism in any form and added, “We will continue to firmly support Pakistan in combating terrorism, maintaining solidarity and social stability and protecting the safety of civilians.”
China stands ready to strengthen counter terrorism and security cooperation with Pakistan and jointly keep the region peaceful, secure and stable, she added.
German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas also strongly condemned the incident and extended his solidarity.
“The use of violence for political purposes by anyone is unacceptable, even more so when innocent civilians are targeted,” Grannas said in a post on X today.
The United Nations also condemned the incident and demanded the release of the hostages.
“We’ve just seen the reports. We, of course, condemn any hostage taking, and we call on those who’ve taken people hostage to release them at once,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a press briefing yesterday.
“We’re going to keep following the situation as it evolves,” Dujarric added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ismail Baghaei also condemned the “terrorist act” and expressed deep concern over the endangerment of innocent civilians.
In a statement, Baghaei recalled Iran’s “principled stance […] in condemning all forms and manifestations of terrorism and violent extremism”.
He added that Iran was ready to “provide any assistance necessary to bring an end to this terrorist incident”.
The Iranian embassy in Islamabad also denounced the assault, stating that the “violent measures against civilians and disturbing vital transportation system is a cowardly crime against humanity”.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed “grave concern” on the attack in a statement today and demanded that all hostages be released immediately.
It said the terrorists “hijacked the train after blowing up the rail track and several hundred passengers taken hostage”.
“We strongly urge all relevant stakeholders to forge an urgent rights-based, pro-people consensus on the issues faced by citizens in Balochistan and to find a peaceful, political solution,” the HRCP added.
It asserted that the commission condemned “violence against unarmed civilians and noncombatants by the state as well as non-state actors”.
In a statement carried by PTV News today, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said he was in constant contact with Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti regarding the attack and reaffirmed “every kind of support” from the government to the province.
Naqvi and CM Bugti reiterated their pledge to bring the assailants to an “exemplary end”, PTV News reported.
The incident was widely condemned by leaders, including President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the chief ministers, among others.
President Zardari said the “Baloch nation rejects those who attack and take hostages innocent passengers” while PM Shehbaz asserted that the “beast terrorists” did not deserve any concession.
Operation being executed with ‘extra care’
According to Imran Hayat, the Railways Divisional Superintendent (DS) in Quetta, 10 people — including the driver of the locomotive and eight security personnel — had lost their lives.
Security officials said that the rescue operation was being executed with extra care due to the presence of hostages in the terrorists’ captivity.
By late Tuesday night, 104 recovered passengers were shifted to the nearby Paneer railway station, including 58 men, 31 women and 15 children. A relief train had evacuated them to nearby Mach station, while efforts are underway for the safe recovery of the remaining passengers.
Railway officials said that around 750 passengers were booked to travel in the Jaffar Express, but the train left Quetta with around 450 people onboard.
Sources said that over 200 security personnel were also travelling on the same train.
According to the government’s statement, an emergency has been imposed at the Sibi hospital, while ambulances and security forces were on their way to the site of the incident.
“The scale of the incident and the possibility of terrorist elements are being determined. The Balochistan government has ordered that emergency measures be taken, and all institutions remain active,” Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told Geo News last night that many people had been taken off the train and were being used as human shields by the terrorists.
The state minister said security forces were treading carefully because of the lives involved, saying that the operation was still underway.
Attack near tunnel
The Mashkaf Tunnel is located around 157km from Quetta and approximately 21km from Sibi.
Although the Quetta-Jacobabad N65 highway and the railway line run mostly side-by-side through the Bolan region, they diverge near the town of Mashkaf.
From here, the railway line takes a more direct path, cutting through the mountains and running along the Bolan River, rejoining the main road near Mach.
The Mashkaf Tunnel is located in a very isolated part of the area, with the nearest station located at Pehro Kunri. The next stop on the line towards Quetta is the stop at Paneer, just short of the Paneer Tunnel.
“Armed men fired rockets at the locomotive and opened fire, which caused the train to stop. The driver of the locomotive was seriously injured,” officials said, adding that a heavy exchange of fire took place between security personnel and the attackers.
Reports suggest that the attackers martyred a number of security personnel and hijacked the train. They then started checking passengers’ identities and took some passengers hostage before they fled.
Sources said that a large group of armed attackers, carrying automatic weapons and rocket launchers, were sheltered in the mountains. They also damaged the railway line with explosives.
“According to security sources, terrorists split into small groups due to security forces’ operation. Injured passengers have been shifted to nearby hospital while additional security squads are taking part in the operation in the area,” reports aired on state media said.
Recent BLA attacks
In 2024, the banned BLA emerged as a key perpetrator of terrorist violence in Pakistan, according to a report by Islamabad-based think tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS).
In August last year, dozens of militants affiliated with BLA launched numerous attacks across the province, in which at least 50 people, including 14 security men, lost their lives. In response, security forces had neutralised 21 militants.
Earlier that month, then-Panjgur deputy commissioner Zakir Baloch was shot dead on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway, with CM Bugti stating BLA as the group behind it.
In October 2024, a suicide bombing near Karachi airport killed two Chinese nationals and a Pakistani citizen, for which two BLA suspects were sent to jail on judicial remand while a probe body was formed as well.
The group also claimed responsibility for the Quetta railway suicide bombing in November last year, in which at least 26 people, including 16 security personnel, lost their lives and 61 others were injured.
Pakistan designated the BLA as a terrorist organisation in April 2006 after the group repeatedly attacked security personnel.
In January this year, a former BLA member said during a press conference that the banned group “brainwashed average citizens into thinking a certain way about Balochistan and resorting to terrorist activities.”
Last month, the BLA claimed responsibility for an attack in Balochistan’s Barkhan, where seven Punjab-bound passengers were offloaded from a bus and shot dead.
In earlier grand-scale hijackings in the country, one that particularly comes to mind is that in 1994 when three armed militants from Afghanistan took control of a school bus near Peshawar and took around 70 children hostage. The bus was driven to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad, where units of elite commandoes gunned them down the next day.
Additional input from Amin Ahmed
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
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