Pakistan: Many hostages freed after Balochistan train attack

Almost two hundred train passengers were rescued after being taken hostage by armed insurgents in Pakistan's restive Balochistan region, security forces said on Wednesday.

The Jaffar Express train was attacked by Baloch insurgents while passing through mountainous terrain on Tuesday.

Some 190 hostages were released with the Interior Ministry saying that an operation was underway to rescue the rest.

The hostages who were freed from the train said they walked for hours to reach safety. They also said they were forced to leave behind relatives from whom they were separated.

What do we know about the Jaffar Express train attack?

Militants waging a war of independence against the Pakistani state set off explosions on the railway track in a remote area of Balochistan, before firing on the train and forcing it to stop. The insurgents took more than 450 people hostage in the process.

The Jaffar Express was on its way from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, to Peshawar in the north of the country on a 30-hour journey.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack which took place around 1:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) in a deserted area in the region of Bolan/Kachhi. 

Authorities have yet to specify how many passengers were taken hostage but the insurgents said they were holding 214 people, and had threatened to start executing them.

"People were attacked ... passengers were injured and some passengers died," Muhammad Ashraf, who was on the train, told Reuters.

It wasn't clear how many insurgents or security forces had been killed, but DPA cited security sources as saying: "A full-scale military operation is underway in which 27 terrorists have been killed."

Helicopters and special forces were deployed as part of the operation.

There were also reports that the militants had forced hostages to sit close to people wearing suicide vests.

"Militants were using the passengers as shields and they have placed suicide bombers wearing explosive vests dangerously close to the hostages," a security official told DPA off the record.

Insurgents demand release of political prisoners

The train was trapped in a tunnel and the driver was killed after sustaining serious injuries, local authorities, police and railway officials said.

The group warned of "severe consequences" if any attempts were made to rescue the hostages.

The BLA demanded the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists and people abducted by the Pakistani military in exchange for the hostages.

Pakistan's interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, said the government forces would not retreat and it would not make concessions for "beasts who fire on innocent passengers."

"It looks [like] a terrorism attack, but we still don't know the exact situation," government spokesperson Shahid Rind said.

Who are the Balochistan insurgents?

Baloch insurgents regularly target trains, necessitating the presence of armed security personnel.

In November, a suicide bombing attack at a train station in Quetta killed 26 people, including passengers, railway staff and security guards.

The BLA is seeking independence for Balochistan, one of Pakistan's most mineral-rich but low-population provinces. The group says the central government is unfairly exploiting the region's natural resources.

It has launched attacks against the government, armed forces and Chinese interests in the region for decades.

A similar insurgency has launched attacks in the Balochistan region of neighboring Iran.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah and Louis Oelofse