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International Pakistan operation to free hostages after train hijacking ends with dozens killed

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Security services claim to have rescued about 190 people being held by Baloch Liberation Army in remote area

Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad

An operation to rescue hundreds of people taken hostage when a train was hijacked by a separatist militant group in remote south-west Pakistan has ended with dozens killed in the onslaught, a spokesperson for the army has said.

Pakistan’s security services claimed late on Wednesday to have rescued about 190 people who were being held captive after militants from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) blew up a railway line and launched an attack on the Jaffar Express train.

The hijacking took place as the train, which was carrying about 450 passengers, was travelling through a tunnel in the rugged mountains of Balochistan province on Tuesday afternoon.

Officials said 33 militants and 21 hostages were killed, after military and security personnel launched an air and land offensive to take back control. The efforts had been hindered by the remote, treacherous terrain, which has made communication and mobilisation difficult.

The BLA had threatened to start killing hostages unless authorities met its 48-hour deadline for the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists and missing people it says had been abducted by the military.
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On Wednesday night, the group claimed in a statement it had killed 50 of the hostages over Pakistan’s “failure to engage in a serious prisoner exchange”.

According to local media reports, the BLA had stationed suicide bombers in explosive vests close to some of the hostages, further complicating their rescue. “The terrorists are using innocent people as human shields,” an official told Radio Pakistan.

Yousaf Bashir was among the passengers who were allowed to leave the train. Describing the moment that the train was held up by the militants, he said: “There was a huge blast. Everyone was scared and people were screaming and crying loudly. We laid down during the blasts. Everyone laid down in the train as there was firing too.”

He said militants had come over after the firing stopped and demanded all the passengers get off the train or be killed. “They freed my children, my wife and me too. They warned us not to look back and kept walking. I did not see how many people there were left behind,” said Bashir.

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Those the BLA allowed to leave the train described walking overnight to safety through the rugged mountain terrain for more than seven hours.

In a written statement sent to the Guardian, the BLA said the hijacking was “a direct response to Pakistan’s decades-long colonial occupation of Balochistan and the relentless war crimes committed against the Baloch people”.

Balochistan, a vast and underdeveloped region bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has for decades been home to a separatist insurgency fighting against the Pakistani state and military, which it has accused of neglecting and exploiting the region.
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“The Bolan operation is a tactical response to these atrocities, intended to demonstrate that the occupying forces are not invincible and that their continued presence in Balochistan will be met with unwavering resistance,” the BLA statement said.

The BLA has recently ramped up its operations in Balochistan and has been behind some of the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the past few years.

Zahid Hussain, a security analyst, said the train hijacking was “unprecedented”. He added: “This attack shows the situation in Balochistan has become very challenging for the military. They have failed to contain the insurgency and militants are recruiting large numbers to carry out such attacks.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ostage-amid-train-hijack-standoff-in-pakistan
 

Where is Balochistan and why is it the target of Iran and Pakistan strikes?​

This article is more than 1 year old
Region is divided between three countries and has a long history of resistance against Pakistan

Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent
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Balochistan is a region with a distinct cultural and historical identity that is now divided between three countries: Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. This week, Iran and Pakistan launched strikes across each other’s borders targeting militants in the Balochistan area.

The region takes its name from the Baloch tribe, who began inhabiting the area centuries ago, and has long been fought over and divided by rulers including the Persians and the British.


The largest portion of the region is in south-western Pakistan, which it joined in 1948 after independence. Though it is Pakistan’s largest province – comprising 44% of the total landmass – its arid, largely desert landscape is the country’s least inhabited and least economically developed region and has been blighted by problems for decades.

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Balochistan has a long history of resistance against the government of Pakistan, and militant insurgencies by groups fighting for an independent state for the Baloch people began in 1948, emerging again in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and significantly post-2003. The people of Balochistan had long felt their region was neglected in terms of development and political representation, fuelling resentment towards the ruling establishment.

In response to the militant insurgency, Pakistan’s military, paramilitary and intelligence forces have overseen a long-running and bloody counterinsurgency and crackdown on the region, with tens of thousands of people “disappeared”, tortured and killed with impunity.

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The militant insurgency has also been a long-running source of tensions between Pakistan and its neighbour Iran, which have each accused the other of harbouring separatist terrorists. Cross-border attacks have killed scores of soldiers, police officers and civilians over the past five years.

Iran, in particular, has accused Pakistan of allowing militants from the Sunni separatist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) to operate freely from Balochistan and carry out attacks on Iranian authorities. As recently as December 2023, 11 Iranian police officers were killed and several injured when Jaish al-Adl militants attacked a police station in Iran’s Sistan and Balochistan province.

In 2023, a total of 10 Pakistani soldiers and security personnel were killed in three separate attacks in Balochistan carried out by militants reportedly operating from the Iranian side.

While the two countries have exchanged barbs and Iran has taken low-level retaliatory action to such attacks, Tehran’s decision to carry out full-blown airstrikes against Pakistan on Tuesday, targeting alleged Jaish al-Adl militant bases in Balochistan, marked an unprecedented escalation of tensions.
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Pakistan’s decision to respond on Thursday with drone and rocket strikes on Iranian territory was equally unprecedented, pushing relations between the two countries to their worst in years and increasing fears of further regional instability.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/where-balochistan-why-iran-pakistan-strikes
 
cant wait for my kids to get a little bit older so I can buy them those lego train sets - as of now I am stuck with lego duplo train sets, altho cool they're not even close to lego city/technics cool :\


to stay on topic:
I am amazed that Pakista, India, Iran, Afghanistan are not at war with each other considering the numerous conflicts on their borders.. Especially scary considering Pakistan has nukes
 
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