Some hostages quarreled on the floor for 27 hours, the rest of the sedenger, while some could only gasp in shock as the armed rebels entered the train and started killing the passengers. The free hostages of the Jaffer Express, who were abducted by members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), described the terrible ordinance of the attack and what they were doing before being saved by Pakistani security forces.
On Tuesday, Jaffer Express was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar with 440 passengers, ambush by ambush by armed rebels. The 30-hour siege ended in a deadly collision, killing 21 civilians and four security personnel, while all 33 militants were killed in one final military operation.
Speaking after the attack, train driver Amjad said that the terrorists carried out an explosive explosion under the train engine, leaving the bogies.
“As soon as the train stopped, militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched an attack,” he said. “Terrorists violated the train by breaking the windows, but they accidentally believed that we were dead.”
For hundreds of people trapped inside, the ordinance was tireless. The remaining people also said that the attackers separated the passengers on the basis of their original area.
Saved passenger Arslan Yusuf remembered the systematic violence of terrorists. “Sometimes, they took the soldiers … and executed them,” they were said by the Reuters of the news agency, referring to the passengers of the Pakistan Army and security forces, who were traveling on leave.
He said, “Other times, he targeted specific persons. If he had a complaint against someone, he shot him on the spot,” he said.
31 -year -old free hostage Mehboob Ahmed faced several gunshot wounds and explained how some prisoners tried to escape.
“We made two attempts. Some succeeded, but many people were shot and killed as armed people set fire,” he said. “We had lost hope to survive.”
Another free hostage, Muhammad Tanveer, said that he was given only water to survive.
Balochistan hosts Chinese-led infrastructure projects including a resource-rich but rebellious-rabbet province, Gwadar Port and Gold and Copper Mines.
While Baloch rebels have long -targeted security forces, establishments and foreign projects, it is the first recorded kidnapping of a passenger train.
The attack on the Jaffer Express began on Tuesday morning, when the Bla Rebells blew up a part of the railway track, forcing the train to stop in the rugged Bollan area of Balochistan. Armed with rocket launchers, automated weapons and grenades, terrorists entered the train. At the Remote Mountain pass, they took the passengers hostage and remained in a long shelling with Pakistani security forces.
By Wednesday, Pakistan’s army started a full -scale operation to withdraw the train. The Pakistani Army confirmed that 21 civilians died during the siege.
A Pakistani army statement said, “Security forces approved the train bogie to the bogie.” The Army, Air Force and Frontier Corps (FC) coordinated the counter-atac with Pakistan’s Elite Special Services Group (SSG) commandos.
After intensive fighting hours, all 33 terrorists were killed, and more than 300 passengers were successfully rescued.
While the Pakistan Army announced the entire victory, the BLA disputed the official account, claiming that they were still hostage and the fight was on.
Group spokesperson, Jiyand Baloch alleged that Pakistan had claimed that the rescue was actually issued by the terrorists themselves.
He said in a statement on Thursday, “Now that the state has left its hostages to die, it will also bear the responsibility for his death.”
In view of the attack, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif traveled to Quetta on Thursday for security briefing.
