Armed militants have reportedly taken some 450 train passengers hostage and wounded the train driver during an attack in Pakistan‘s volatile southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Army has threatened to execute all the hostages it has in its custody if the Pakistani authorities attempt to intervene.
‘Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,’ Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told reporters.
In a statement, the BLA claimed responsibility for the attack, during which they said six military personnel were killed.
The group said they had taken hostages from the train, including security forces, with the exact number in their custody unclear.
‘During this operation, BLA fighters have released women, children, and Baloch passengers, ensuring that all remaining hostages are serving personnel of the occupying forces,’ the group said in a statement.
The Jaffar Express was on its way from Quetta in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when it was fired on, railway officials said.
Officials from the provincial government or railways did not confirm on hostages being taken.
AFP
