Mehboob Hussain was driving a train home on Tuesday when the paths under the front car exploded.
In the depths of the Passage of the Central Pakistan, the wilderness pocket so far that there is no internet or mobile network coverage, nine Jaffar Express soil coaches to stop. Then the bullets began to fly.
“I was a traveler on the attacked train,” Mr. Hussain told BBC Urdu.
He, together with about 440 others, traveled from Quette to Peshawar through the heart of the Province of Restoive Balochistan when a group of armed militants hit – bombarded the trails, shot on the train and then fell into the carriages.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (Bla) quickly took responsibility for the siege and threatened to kill many of them if Pakistani authorities do not release political prisoners in Baloch within 48 hours.
The group, which many countries have appointed a terrorist organization, has led a decade rebellion to gain independence for Balochistan, accusing Islamabad of exploiting Rich mineral resources of the province, at the same time, neglect it.
Young militants have a long history of attacks on military camps, train stations and trains in the region.
But this was the first time they had abducted him.
The siege lasted more than 30 hours. According to the authorities, 300 passengers have now been released and 33 Militants of Bla -e, 21 civil hostages and four military staff were killed. But conflicting figures suggest that many passengers are left with no responsibility.
The information related to the attack and the subsequent rescue operation is firmly controlled.
But the bbc managed to talk Multiple eyewitnesses who described the “Scenes of the Trial Day” on the train while the attack took place.
As Ishaq Noor said BBC Urdu about those first few moments: “We kept our breath while shooting, not knowing what would happen next.”
Shooting
The train police officer who was on the train of the train told the BBC Urdu that, contrary to the initial reports of the Pakistani authorities, the train “not in the tunnel, but in the open area” when it was hit.
Black also posted a alleged video at the moment the train hit the explosion. Shows the open part of the track moving along the base of a large rocky slope.
At the top of that slope, according to the video, is a set of mud fighter.
The police officer described how he initially “fought with other police officers” to try to refuse the militants until “the ammunition disappeared.”
“They [the BLA] They moved in front of us on the mountain and were much more numerous than us, in the hundreds, “a police officer who spoke on a condition of anonymity, recalled. He noted that four railway police and two members of the Pakistani Paravial Border Corps (FC).
At least 100 of those on the train were members of security forces, according to Pakistani officials.
“I told my companion to give me a G-3 rifle because it’s a better weapon,” the officer explained. “When I got a rifle and rounds, we also started shooting back. I used to shoot one by one shot at them that they couldn’t get closer to us and the train … [But] In an hour and a half, our circles were over … We were helpless. “
When the shooting from those on the ship Jaffar Express stopped, the militants came down from the surrounding mountains and started driving passengers from the train, the officer said.
“They started checking the cards and telling people that they were going this way, in this way,” he said, explaining that hostages were separated into groups along with the train, according to their ethnicity.
The militants spoke in Balochi, he added and stated: “We have made demands to the Government and if they do not fulfill them, we will not spare anyone; we will burn the vehicle.”
The policeman claimed that militants were receiving orders: “They would get a command to kill, and they will pick up people from the group and kill them. They killed many people – and military staff and civilians.”
First edition
However, some passengers were allowed to leave unharmed – including women, children, the elderly and those who lived in Balokistan, said Mr. Noor.
Among the release was Noor Muhammad. He said that when the initial anxiety stopped after an hour, the armed men forced the train door and went in to say “Exit or we will shoot you”.
Mr. Muhammad said he was accompanied by a train, and when he told the militants, his wife is still in the back of the car, and they performed it. Then they “told us to go straight and look back.”
The couple went through the desert, he said, and “great difficulty” reached the Panir train station around 7 pm, where they were resting.
His wife recalled the moment the Pakistani army arrived to meet them.
“They told me,” ma’am, come in with us, we will take you home for sure, “she said. The soldiers took the couple to the town of Machh, she added:” And then we reached Quette to our children who were waiting for us. “
Some passengers who managed to leave the train late Tuesday night said they were walking for almost four hours to reach the next train station. They included Muhammad Ashraf, who was driving a train to Lahore to visit his family.
“With great difficulty we reached the station,” he told the Urdu BBC, “because we were tired and there were children and women with us.”
Footage at night
As the night descended over Jaffar Express, the tenth militant Black began to leave, according to a police official who did not want to appoint him.
“Many of them hugged and 70, 80 people were left, while 20, 25 were left behind,” he said.
Around 10 pm, he recalled, violence broke out again.
“Some people tried to escape, [the BLA] They saw them and opened the fire, and then everyone fell to the ground, “the official said.
Mr. Mehboob similarly recalled the shooting throughout the night – and said that at one point the person close to him, who had five daughters.
“When someone was killed in front of your eyes, you don’t know what to do,” he said.
Another passenger, Allahditta, said that his cousin had killed him before him. He said that his cousin was begged for militants not to kill him because he had young daughters, but “his life was not spared.”
The BBC saw a dozen wooden coffins filled at the Quetta train station on Wednesday. The railway official said they were empty and were transported to collect the victims.
Morning escape
At the time of the morning prayer on Wednesday, the rescuers from the FC began shooting on the militants of Blago, said Mr. Allahditta.
In the midst of a sudden chaos, he and others got rid of each other.
“When FC opened fire at a time when Fajr was a call to prayer, we fled the militants,” said Mr. Allahdita.
The police official similarly recalled the moment FC moved in, briefly diverting the focus of the Militature Blaca away from the hostages.
“When FC arrived in the morning, the attention of these people turned that direction,” the official said. “I told my companion,” Let’s try to escape. “
The militants fired while they escaped, and the official said his companion was hit from behind.
“He told me to let him go. I said no, I’ll wear you on my shoulder. Then the other person also joined her hands and went down the hills and from the shooting.”
Mr. Mehboob, Mr. Allahdita, a police official and his companion, were able to escape Jaffar Express because FC attacked militants.
Military and paramilitary troops and helicopters have surrounded the stranded train from Tuesday. On Wednesday, they killed hostages and cleaned the place, a military spokesman said.
Authorities said there were 440 passengers on the train – and 300 of them were released. But it is still not clear what happened with the remaining 140. Reuters and AFP quoted an unnamed security official who said they had left some Milianants, taking an unknown number of passengers with them.
The army says that it is still working to find passengers who have escaped and fled to the surrounding area, and insists that everyone else who includes will be brought to justice in the abduction.
Mr. Noor, who now distributes alms and charity in his hometown, is only grateful that he has escaped in a situation with his life.
“Thank God,” Mr. Noor said. “He saved us.”
