Pakistani military sources claim to have “neutralized” the militants responsible for hijacking a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan with more than 400 people on board but doubts persists amid the lack of independent verification and counterclaims by the fighters.
Late on March 12, military sources told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that it had killed at least 32 militants in and around the hijacked train in Bolan, a rural district some 160 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital of the restive province of Balochistan.
The sources said 18 soldiers were killed in the fighting.
But the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist organization that accepted responsibility for hijacking the Jaffar Express on March 11, claimed its militants were still engaged in fighting and holding more than 100 hostages. The BLA said its fighters had killed more than 50 hostages.
With more than 400 passengers on board, the Jaffar Express was on its way from Quetta to Peshawar in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province when it was stopped by militants who blew up the train tracks. The bold attack represented the first time the BLA had hijacked a train, a sign it is escalating its fight with Islamabad.
A passenger who was rescued from the train receives medical aid at the Mach Railway Station in Mach, Balochistan, Pakistan, on March 11.
The BLA, designated as terrorists by the United States, has warned that it will kill the remaining 150 hostages if Islamabad fails to respond to its prisoner exchange offer within the next day.
RFE/RL could not independently verify claims by Pakistani authorities and the separatist militants in the sparsely populated region that is inaccessible to journalists.
The AFP news agency quoted an unnamed military official who claimed that all the hostages were freed. The official told the news outlet that 28 soldiers were killed in the siege, adding that"346 hostages were freed, and over 30 terrorists were killed during the operation," the officer said.
Earlier, Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, called the attack an "act of terrorism." He said helicopters were supporting security forces in countering the militants in the remote mountainous region.
SEE ALSO: The Rise Of The Baloch Liberation Army In PakistanOn March 11, the BLA said it freed up to 150 people, including women, children, the elderly, and members of the minority Baluch ethnic group.
A passenger on the train told RFE/RL via telephone that the security forces had launched ground and air operations against the armed group while the militants were using weapons and rockets in response.
Muhammad Kashif, a spokesman for the Balochistan Regional Railways Department, told RFE/RL that the train had a total of nine carriages and was attacked as it passed through a tunnel in the remote, mountainous area.
The train came to a stop after the attack and remained inside the tunnel, Kashif said, estimating the train had been carrying 400-500 passengers.
SEE ALSO: Pakistan Slides Into New 'Era Of Terrorism'“This is a significant escalation and indicates more violence in the future,” said Imtiaz Baloch, an analyst covering Balochistan for Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Balochistan, a vast and resource-rich province, has been plagued by insurgency for over two decades. The BLA and allied Baluch separatist groups seek independence from Islamabad.
Baluch nationalists blame Pakistan for committing grave rights abuses while countering the separatists. They criticize Islamabad for exploiting its vast natural resources without benefiting the locals.
Islamabad has outlawed the BLA and other separatist groups for their violent attacks on security forces and civilians.
Baloch says Islamabad has been pursuing "hard-line state policies, including forced disappearances, political engineering, and election rigging," which has resulted in bad governance in the marginalized province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
SEE ALSO: Pakistan's Arrest Of Islamic State Operative Signals Renewed U.S. CooperationThe province has been a recipient of Chinese investments in energy and infrastructure. Since the turn of the century, Beijing has sought to develop Balochistan’s Gwadar port as a lynchpin of its efforts to create a new trade route with the Middle East.
The BLA has been ramping up attacks during the past few years and has adopted suicide bombings as a lethal tactic to target Pakistani security forces and Chinese personnel.
In November, the BLA carried out a suicide bombing at a Quetta train station, killing 26 people, including military personnel, railway workers, and passengers.