Mass practice hostage siege as 450 individuals held at gunpoint with a number of killed
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) took credit for blowing up the railway line and shooting hostages as part of their campaign against outsiders allegedly ‘plundering’ the region on the Afghan border
A train carrying 450 people through a mountainous region of Pakistan was stopped and held hostage by a gun-toting militia. The separatist forces killed at least 25 people, including 21 innocent hostages, as the security forces retrieved the bodies from the wilderness.
The authorities said 340 train passengers were rescued in a two-day operation. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), who claimed to have carried out the attack, blew up the rail line with explosives as part of a campaign against outsiders allegedly plundering natural resources in Balochistan, near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
There have been varied death tolls reported with the military saying in an official statement that “21 innocent hostages” were killed by militants as well as four soldiers involved in the rescue operation.
The bodies of 25 people were understood to be transported by train away from the hostage site to the town of Mach this morning. The “deceased were identified as 19 military passengers, one police and one railway official, while four bodies are yet to be identified,” and official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
The passengers, who were lucky enough to escape the terrifying ordeal with their lives, detailed witnessing people being shot by the militia before walking for hours through rugged mountainous terrain to get to safety.
Muhammad Naveed, who managed to escape, told AFP: “They asked us to come out of the train one by one. They separated women and asked them to leave. They also spared elders.”
“They asked us to come outside, saying we will not be harmed. When around 185 people came outside, they chose people and shot them down.”
Babar Masih, a 38-year-old Christian labourer, told AFP on Wednesday he and his family walked for hours through rugged mountains to reach a train that could take them to a makeshift hospital on a railway platform.
“Our women pleaded with them and they spared us,” he said. “They told us to get out and not look back. As we ran, I noticed many others running alongside us.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif issued a statement through his office. It read: “The Prime Minister expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of security personnel and train passengers during the operation.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
