Militants take 450 train passengers hostage in Pakistan

Armed militants seized control of a train in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, holding hundreds of passengers hostage in an ongoing siege claimed by a separatist group responsible for escalating violence in the region.  

The attackers wounded the train’s driver as they hijacked the locomotive in a remote, mountainous part of Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.  

"Over 450 passengers, including women and children, are being held hostage by gunmen," Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway official in Quetta, told AFP.  

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist group fighting for independence and accusing outsiders of exploiting the region’s resources, swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack.  

In a statement, the group said its fighters bombed the railway track before storming the train and taking control.  

"The militants have seized the train and are holding all passengers hostage," the statement read, warning of "severe consequences" if rescue attempts were made.  

The incident occurred around 1 p.m. (0800 GMT) in the rural Sibi district, near a city station where the train was scheduled to stop.  

"A passenger train called the Jaffar Express was intercepted by armed militants," a senior government official in Sibi said, speaking anonymously as he was not authorized to brief the media.  

"The passengers remain hostage, and the driver is injured," he added.  

The train had departed from Quetta at 9 a.m. for Peshawar, a journey of more than 30 hours.  

Authorities have declared an emergency at hospitals in Sibi in response to the crisis.  

A senior police official from a neighboring district said the train was "stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains," an area offering natural cover for militant hideouts and ambushes.  

Security forces have long struggled with a separatist insurgency in Balochistan, where militant groups claim the region’s wealth is exploited by outsiders while locals see little benefit.  

Violence has surged in Pakistan’s western border regions, from north to south, following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.  

According to the Center for Research and Security Studies, 2024 was Pakistan’s deadliest year in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks.  

The BLA has been responsible for several deadly assaults, including the killing of seven Punjabi travelers in February after forcing them off a bus.  

Last year, at least 39 people were killed in coordinated attacks primarily targeting ethnic Punjabis.  

In November, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.