Doomsday, intense gunfire and panic everywhere – that’s how the survivors of the Jaffar Express attack recounted the horror of their train journey, that ended up being hijacked by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) on Tuesday.
“It felt like doomsday. There was panic everywhere. The attackers did not harm women or elderly passengers. There were more than 100 armed assailants,” Muhammad Ashraf, one of the passengers told reporters, ARY News reported.
Also read: Pakistan train hijack: Jaffar Express a hot target for BLA & TTP for years now
After the reports of the attack, rescue teams and security forces arrived at the scene, launching an operation to track down the attackers. A relief train was also sent. The BLA claimed the responsibility for the attack and said that it had killed six security personnel, taken 100 hostage and threatened to execute them all.
A female passenger recalled the attack and said, “We were sitting in the train when suddenly a blast occurred, and we were ordered to step out. We had to walk for two hours after the attack.”
“After the blast, there was intense gunfire, and we had to run for our lives,” said Noor Muhammad.
“I can’t find the words to describe how we managed to escape. It was terrifying,” AFP reported quoting another passenger Muhammad Bilal saying.
Security sources said on Wednesday that they had rescued 190 hostages from a total of 450 passengers while eliminating 30 militants.
Also read: Captured on camera: Moment Baloch insurgents blasted tracks, hijacked Jaffar Express in Pakistan
‘Punjabis taken away’
A passenger recounted how the gunmen checked identity cards to identify those from outside the province, a tactic resembling recent attacks attributed to the Baloch Liberation Army. “They came and checked IDs and service cards and shot two soldiers in front of me and took the other four to… I don’t know where,” AFP quoted them as saying.
“Those who were Punjabis were taken away by the terrorists,” he added.
Another passengers recounted similar experience and said, “After the explosion, we had no idea what was happening. Armed men checked the identity cards of the passengers on the train.”
The BLA, after claiming the responsibility of the attack, had said that it had taken over 100 men hostage, ensuring that they were serving as security officials in Pakistan. It had claimed that all women and children had been released.
Pakistan has long fought an insurgency in the resource-rich yet impoverished province of Balochistan. However, violence has escalated across Pakistan’s western border regions with Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in 2021. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), claiming that outsiders are exploiting the region’s natural resources, has intensified attacks targeting non-Baloch Pakistanis. In February, BLA militants executed seven Punjabi travelers after forcing them off a bus.Pakistan train hijack: Jaffar Express a hot target for BLA & TTP for years now