We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Security forces have freed at least 300 passengers who were taken hostage by armed rebels in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The Pakistani army said that 33 rebels were killed while freeing the hostages and the rescue operation was completed.
According to the Pakistani army, 21 civilians and four soldiers were killed on the train before security operations against the attackers began. But Pakistani media have mentioned that at least 30 security personnel were killed.
37 passengers who were injured during the rescue have been admitted to the hospital for treatment. According to Pakistani railway officials, there were 440 passengers in the train with 9 compartments. The Pakistani army has alleged that the planners of the incident are in Afghanistan.
Insurgent group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) attacked the Jafar Express train from Quetta to Peshawar on Tuesday and took several passengers hostage. According to a railway official in Quetta, on Tuesday, 80 passengers, including 11 children and 26 women, got off the train and reached another nearby station. The residents of Balochistan in that group had returned home .
Immediately after the attack, the BLA said that 214 of the 425 passengers on the train were taken hostage. According to a military official, the train was carrying more than a hundred army personnel who boarded from Quetta.
The separatist group, through a statement, said that before attacking the train, it detonated a bomb on a railway track in the remote Sibi district. The BLA had also warned that if they tried to rescue those they had captured, they would face serious consequences . The attackers demanded the release of Baloch political prisoners within 48 hours. They even threatened to kill the hostages if their demands were not met.
