The hostage rescue operation to free the passengers of the Jaffer Express in Balochistan’s Bolan district neared its culmination on Wednesday as security sources confirmed that most of those taken captive were freed.
AMN / WEB DESK
Pakistan, security forces have safely extracted at least 190 passengers so far as the rescue operation continues into its second day after the hijacking of the Jaffer Express train near Balochistan’s Bolan district by militants from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
The Jaffar Express, with more than 400 passengers on board in nine coaches, was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa when militants derailed it using explosives and hijacked it.
As per media reports, so far, 30 militants involved in the hijacking of the train have been killed in the security operation. The security sources added that the operation to eliminate the remaining assailants was continuing.
The report further said, 37 injured had been sent for medical treatment. The separatist militant group, BLA which claimed responsibility for the attack issued a 48-hour ultimatum, stating that they would execute the hostages if Baloch political prisoners, activists and missing persons abducted by the Pakistani military are not freed. It also warned that if military intervention continues, all hostages will be executed and the train will be destroyed.