The Baloch Liberation Army kidnapped a train in Balochistan, Pakistan. Baloch rebels demanding a separate nation on Tuesday kidnapped the Zafar Express train from Quetta to Peshawar. This train with 9 coaches had about 400 passengers. The passengers were about 100 Pakistani Army, Police and ISI employees. The rebels kidnapped the train and took it inside a tunnel. The incident has stirred up and the Pakistani army is campaigning to save the people in the train. On the other hand, the Balochistan army has warned that if the army comes close to the train, they will kill all the hostages.
104 passengers rescued
According to the BLA, 214 passengers have been taken hostage and claiming that more than 30 Pakistani soldiers have been killed so far. In its statement issued after the train kidnapping, the BLA gave a clear warning to the Shahbaz government that if the Pakistani army takes action against them, they will kill all the hostages. 104 passengers have been rescued from the kidnapped train. According to PTI report, 13 rebels have been killed. The operation is still going on. However, the BLA claims that it has killed more than 30 Pakistani soldiers.
Rebel in contact with people sitting in Afghanistan
According to Pakistani security sources, Baloch rebels who have hijacked the Zafar Express train are in touch with their leaders present in Afghanistan. They are using women and children aboard the train as their shield. Due to which the Pakistani army is facing difficulties in campaigning against them.
Did the rebels give up?
According to sources, many of the 104 passengers rescued were abandoned by Baloch rebels. Those passengers have been sent to a hospital in Sibbi by freight train under military security. Emergency has been declared in all hospitals in Sibbi district.
Demand for Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)
They are very straight and clear. Which Baloch has presented to the world several times. He says that Balochistan, which he considers a separate province, is a separate country. He has a separate government. The first and biggest demand of Baloch is that no Pakistani agency or security agency should be in Balochistan. Apart from this, Baloch believes that the CPEC project is underway with China. Their minerals are being exploited through projects. A large number of community members have been displaced due to these projects. Since then, Baloch has been continuously demanding the removal of this project from his area for many years.
This is not a new attack on Pakistan by the BLA. The BLA has been carrying out such attacks on Pakistan for the last several years. Sometimes they target Chinese engineers, sometimes Pakistani diplomats.
PTI, citing security sources, said that security forces have saved 80 hostages. These include 43 men, 26 women and 11 children. Sources said that efforts are on to evacuate the other passengers of Zafar Express. The rebels are surrounded and the campaign will continue until the final rebel is killed.
