Pakistani security forces are closed in a deadly extract with armed militants more than a day after the attacker seized the passenger train on Tuesday and held hundreds of soils.
The crisis is a dramatic escalation of long -term separatist rebellion in the southwest of the country.
The Baloch’s liberation army, or Blach, a banned separatist group, seized a train, which carried more than 400 people in a remote mountain.
The group claimed to hold at least 214 people, including military staff and officers for law enforcement. It required the G
By Wednesday morning, the security authorities said more than 150 hostages had been rescued, although the fate of the remaining passengers remained uncertain. Officials also reported that at least 27 militants were killed in a continuous surgery and hostages to be held in three separate places.
Muhammad Tallal Chaudry, a state minister for the interior, told GeneS Channel on Tuesday night that some hostages were taken to a nearby mountain.
Independent checks of events are still difficult because the abduction has taken place in a remote, mountain region with virtually without cells or internet connection, limiting the journalist’s range. So far, information has come solely from security officers and the Pakistani army, which mostly conducts a rescue operation, has not published an official statement.
The train traveled from Quette, Baluchistan’s capital, Peshawar. But he became stranded in a tunnel about 100 miles from Quette while he was attacked, and the conductor was killed towards the authorities.
After capturing a train, Pakistan Railways announced that he would temporarily suspend trains in Quetti and that he would continue only after the security agencies had examined and confirmed the safety of the system.
Muhammad Ashraf was among the 80 passengers who were released last night and said that after hours he reached a nearby train station after walking the paths.
“When the train was attacked, everyone threw themselves on the floor, using luggage and bags to protect themselves from bullets,” Mr. Ashraf said on the phone after reaching Quette. “The screams echoed everywhere.”
The militants took all the passengers as hostage, but later they released the parties that traveled with women and children, he said.
Baluchistan, a large and sparsely populated province bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long tormented separatist violence and rebel activity. Province is also home Main projects under the leadership of Chinaincluding a strategic port.
Ethnic separatist groups have Swing againThey are increasingly attacked by security forces and Chinese citizens involved in projects as part of the belt and road initiative, the Chinese investment program of investment in infrastructure. Separatists accuse the Pakistan Government of allowing China to extract the wealth of the region.
Experts, however, say that separatist groups have become more and more reinforced and sophisticated in their operations, now include tactics such as suicide bombing attacks – an approach previously associated with Islamist militants who have been active in northwestern Pakistan and Afghanistan for the last few decades.
“The BLA-E ability to kidnap the train with such precision suggests an advanced network of intelligence collecting and strategic planning,” said Dost Muhammad Barrech, an academic of the University of Balochistan, Quetti.
Just last week, the Separatist Groups Association, including Bla, announced plans to enhance the attack on Pakistani security forces, infrastructure and Chinese interests in the region.
Last year Black performed one of the most deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan, suicidal bombing that killed at least 25 peopleIncluding security staff, at the Quetti train station.
The group also took responsibility for another deadly bombing of targeting a convoy carried by Chinese nationals Near the Karachi International Airport, in Pakistan’s largest city.
