In Pakistan, militants from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attacked the Jaffar Express train, which was carrying 440 passengers, near the mountains of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in Balochistan province on Tuesday. The militants killed 21 passengers and four paramilitary soldiers. On Wednesday, the Army killed all 33 terrorists involved in the attack.
Hostages who were freed after a day-long ordeal following a militant attack on a train remembered hiding on the floor for hours before they were released. Meanwhile, the bodies of 25 victims were brought to Quetta, Reuters reported.”Sometimes, they took soldiers … and executed them,” he said, talking about passengers from the Pakistan Army and other security forces who were traveling while on leave.”Sometimes, they took soldiers … and executed them,” he said, talking about passengers from the Pakistan Army and other security forces who were traveling while on leave.
The separatist BLA blew up train tracks and held passengers hostage in a tense standoff with security forces in a remote mountain area.
The militants, armed with rocket launchers, guns, and other weapons, stormed the train and started shooting people. Arslan Yousaf, one of the hostages who was rescued and brought to the regional capital Quetta on Thursday with the help of security forces, told Reuters.
Yousaf also said that the militants grouped the passengers based on where they were from.
“Sometimes, they took soldiers … and executed them,” he said, talking about passengers from the Pakistan Army and other security forces who were traveling while on leave.
“Other times, they targeted specific individuals. If they had a grudge against someone, they shot him on the spot,” he said.
Surviving On Just Water
The hostages survived only on water while they were held, said Muhammad Tanveer, another passenger, to the news agency.
“The terrorists breached the train by smashing windows, but they mistakenly believed we were dead,” said train driver Amjad, who dove to the engine floor for cover when the militants started shooting and stayed there for about 27 hours to survive.
Mehboob Ahmed, who is 31 years old, was shot several times. He said that the hostages tried to escape from the train two times. Some people managed to get away, but many were killed when the armed men started shooting.
“We had nearly lost hope for survival,” he said.
The BBC talked to several witnesses who described very scary scenes on the train while the attack was happening.
Ishaq Noor told BBC Urdu about the first moments: “We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next.”
A railway police officer said that the attackers were getting orders: “They would get orders to kill, and they would pick up people from the group and kill them. They killed many people – both army personnel and civilians.”
The BBC also spoke to Noor Muhammad, who was among those freed by the militants. He said that when the first round of gunfire stopped after an hour, armed men forced open the door of the train and entered, saying “get out or we will shoot you.”
Mr. Muhammad said he was taken off the train, and when he told the militants his wife was still inside, they brought her out too. Then they “told us to go straight and not look back.”
The couple walked through the wilderness, he said, and with “great difficulty” reached Panir Railway Station at about 7:00 PM, where they rested.
One of the survivor shared his experience, have a look at the video:
One of the survivors of Jafar express Train in Pakistan where terrorists have attacked the train and kidnapped around 400 passengers pic.twitter.com/CrjVmhXIgf
— RIZWAN RIAZ (@onlyimrankhan01) March 12, 2025
PM Shehbaz Sharif’s Visit To Balochistan Following Train Hijacking Incident
“No such incident has ever happened in the history of Pakistan,” Sharif told a meeting of parliamentarians and military officers in the city.
The BLA said that the people Pakistan “claimed” to have rescued were actually released by the group itself.
“Now that the state has abandoned its hostages to die it will also bear responsibility for their deaths,” the group’s spokesperson, Jeeyand Baloch, said in a statement on Thursday.
