Militants from the Baloch Liberation Army hijacked a Pakistan railways operated Jaffar༺ Express as it travelled from 💜Quetta to Peshawar.
Pakistani authorities confirmed the end of a train hijacking on Wednesday, with all 🍌insurgents killed after a daylong standoff. Twenty-one passengers and four paramilitary soldiers were killed by militants holding hostages after seizing control of a train in Balochistan, an army general said on Wednesday.
Army spok🌃esman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif told Dunya News TV that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene.
"The armed forces successful𒊎ly concluded the operation in the (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing all passengers safely,” Lt Gen Sharif said.
He said that 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists when they attacked the train on Tues▨day. He added that four paramiཧlitary Frontier Corps soldiers were also killed in the incident.
Baloch insurgents in Pakistan's Balochistan province have shared a video showing how they ble𝄹w up a train track to derail a Peshawar-b🃏ound passenger train before taking the passengers hostage.
On Tuesday, militants from the Baloch 𝕴Liberation Army hijacked a Pakistan railways operated Jaffar Ex🍎press as it travelled from Quetta to Peshawar. Across the nine bogies, around 450 passengers are assumed to have been on board the train.
Officials have stated that the rescue operation has been "incr🅷easingly difficult" as the BL𒉰A militants are using women and children as human shields.
Rescued Passengers Recall Hijack Horror
Speaking to AFP, one of the rescued passengers recalled the incident and thanke💦d the forces for safely evacuatin💛g him from the train.
"There was gunfire, but by the grace of Allah, the army and FC perꦇsonnel brought us to safety," said one of the rescued passengers.
"I can't find the words to describ♔e how we managed to escape. It was terrifying," another passenger on board told AFP.
Speaking to BBC Urdu, Mushtaq, who was in coach number three of the train,ꦬ said, “The attack started with a ‘huge explosion.' After that, the firing started. The firing continued for an hour. It was a sce💞ne that can never be forgotten."