Separatist militants hijacked a train that carried more than 400 people in an isolated mountainous area in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday. The fate of the passengers, dozens of militants said they took hostages, but it is not yet known.
According to railway and police officials, militant ethnic fighters forced the train to stop in the Bolan district of Bal Road Chistan Province after the fire was opened. The train is from Quetta, the capital of Bal Lu Chin, to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtukhwa. It passes through several cities in Lahore and Rawalpindi near Islamabad.
Shahid Rind, spokesman for the Bal Road Chitmoku government, said authorities are working to reach the ambush site due to the challenging terrain.
Rashid Hussain, a businessman in Quetta, said his family left the Rawalpindi train in the morning but was unable to access after 2 p.m. “I'm very worried,” he said over the phone. “The government has not provided any updates. Neither the roads nor trains in this province are safe.”
The seizure of passenger trains highlights the growing complexity of separatist insurgency in southwestern Pakistan, which seeks greater political control and economic development in the region.
The attack is the latest in a series of violence in Bal Luzhin Province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is home to major Chinese-led projects, including strategic ports.
A group known as the Bal Road Branch People's Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the train hijacking.
The group said it has taken 182 hostages, including members of various security agencies traveling during leave. “Civilian passengers, especially women, children, elderly people and Bal Road citizens have been safely released and provided a safe route,” the group said in a telegram post.
The account cannot be verified independently and the government has not confirmed any reports of hostages or any casualties.
Last year, the BLA carried out one of Pakistan’s deadliest terrorist attacks, a suicide bombing that killed at least 25 people, including security personnel, in the busy train station in Quetta.
The group also claimed a deadly bomb attack targeting a convoy of Chinese citizens near the international airport in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. Separatists accuse the Chinese of stealing resources from the province.
Separatist groups have escalated high-profile attacks on three major highways in Bal Road Chincheon in recent months, directly challenging the state's authority. Last week, a coalition of groups, including the BLA, announced plans to strengthen attacks on Pakistani security forces, infrastructure and Chinese interests.
“It points to two key trends: the increasing operational capacity and maturity of separatist groups, and the weakening of government control in Bal Luzhin, senior associate researcher at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.
At Quetta Railway Station, passenger families on the train gathered anxiously at the information counter on Tuesday, seeking updates.
Many people in the area have begun to prefer rail travel after frequent wartime ambushings on the highway, where they were killed after being taken by bus. Frequent protests have also caused the route to be blocked.
Train services only resumed after two months of suspension due to radical attacks on the rails.
