Security forces have successfully freed at least 190 hostages and eliminated 30 terrorists who had hijacked the Jaffar Express in Balochistan's Bolan district, pledging to continue the operation until the last militant is defeated.
The train, carrying 400 passengers in nine bogies, was en route from Quetta to Peshawar on Tuesday when an unknown number of terrorists took passengers hostage, security forces said.
Security sources said that forces were continuing the operation to rescue the remaining hostages. They said that terrorists, some of them wearing suicide jackets, were using passengers as human shields, security sources revealed.
Due to the presence of hostages, security forces are proceeding with extreme caution, the sources added.
One of the freed passengers thanked the forces for safely evacuating him from the hijacked train and acknowledged the efforts of the army and FC personnel in security operation.
“There was gunfire, but by the grace of Allah, the army and FC personnel brought us to safety,” said one of the rescued passengers.
Meanwhile, railway officials said that the Bolan Mail and Jaffar Express, operating from Quetta to other parts of the country, have been suspended for three days. The decision to suspend train services was taken following the attack on the Jaffar Express in Bolan, according to railway authorities.
Additionally, the passenger train from Quetta to Chaman has also not yet departed, railway officials stated.
Earlier, railway officials reported that 57 rescued passengers from the Jaffar Express were transported to Quetta in the early hours of Wednesday, while 23 remained in Machh.
After security forces launched the operation on Tuesday, the militants split into small groups, security sources said. Seventeen injured passengers were taken to a nearby hospital for urgent medical treatment.
Navigating the difficult terrain, security forces cordoned off the area upon receiving word of the attack, they said, adding that despite the challenging route, forces reached the scene in the Mushqaf area of the Bolan district of Balochistan to initiate the operation.
Sources further revealed that the attackers were using satellite phones to communicate with international handlers, including a mastermind in Afghanistan, and were using women and children as human shields, forcing extreme caution in the operation.
